By John Lee. Iraq's Council of Ministers has decided to ban the importation of busses with a capacity of 20 passengers or more that are more than 3 years old. It also decided to ban the importation of construction vehicles and ambulances that are more than five years old. (Source: Aswat al-Iraq)
It's always nice to start the year with some good news, and you'll find plenty of it in this week's newsletter. For example, in recent days the French company Schneider Electric has won a $74-million order to build electricity sub-stations in the south of the country, the World Bank has announced that it will finance […]
Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq's Shia prime minister, has warned the largely Sunni protesters to stop their demonstrations. The move comes as powerful Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr voiced his support for the Sunni protests. Maliki has ordered the release of more than 700 female prisoners, a key demand of the demonstrators, but he also issued a warning […]
By John Lee. Informed sources in Basra claim that the provincial government intends to open a border crossing with Saudi Arabia with the aim of increasing exports. Both NINA news agency and Aswat al-Iraq report that the crossing will be in the Ouja al-Batin area, northwest of Basra. The crossing is expected to be opened […]
By Sherif Salem. While attending an investment conference in Erbil in November, I was struck by a theme that came through in almost all my meetings with listed-company executives: a desire to engage with foreign companies. It seems as if expertise is more in demand than capital as companies look to grow and take advantage […]
By Ahmed Mousa Jiyad. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. The Iraqi Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative-IEITI (now called Iraq Revenue Transparency-IRT) issued its second report, entitled “Oil Export and Field Development Revenues in 2010”, on 27 December 2012. The Report was released […]
By John Lee. Iraq's Minister for Electricity has signed a $74-million contract with France’s Schneider Electric to install 20 electricity substations in four southern provinces. Ministry’s spokesperson Musaab al-Mudares said: “There will be seven substations in Basra, six in Thi-Qar, four in Missan and three in Muthanna. “The new stations will contribute in stabilizing the […]
By John Lee. Azzaman reports that the Iraqi government has removed visa restrictions on pilgrims visiting Muslim shrines during ‘holy’ occasions. The move will make it possible for pilgrims to fly to the country and obtain their visas at the Iraqi airports instead of applying for it at the Iraqi embassies in their countries. Muslim […]
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is providing a $70 million loan to help renovate a cement factory in Iraq, part of an effort to support the local building sector and aid in the country’s reconstruction. The financing will allow Kerbala Cement Manufacturing, a subsidiary of France’s Lafarge, to rehabilitate a state-owned plant […]
By Laith Hammoudi. This article was originally published by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, iwpr.net, and it is reproduced by Iraq Business News with permission. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. A tough new law that could place severe restrictions […]
Minister Falah Mustafa, the KRG's Head of Foreign Relations, met with Mr Tae-In Chung, the Deputy Director General for the African and Middle Eastern Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of South Korea to discuss bilateral ties. Both sides discussed areas of cooperation in political, economic, and cultural fields between Kurdistan […]
The streets of the Iraq capital turned into rivers after three days of heavy rain. Many parts of Baghdad are totally flooded, with poor infrastructure making it worse for the people. Some residents are accusing the government for not helping them. Al Jazeera's Omar al-Saleh reports from Baghdad: (Source: Al Jazeera)
