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Iraq Postpones Oil Terminal Start “Indefinitely”

The opening ceremony to inaugurate Iraq's first floating oil terminal was postponed until further notice, an Oil Ministry spokesman announced on Wednesday. Aswat al-Iraq reports that there were 'operational problems', while Bloomberg's contact gave no reason for the delay, the third since last month. The terminal, which has an export capacity of 900,000 bpd, was […]

Tupperware to Educate Iraqi Women on Entrepreneurship

Harnessing education to empower women, Tupperware Brands today announced the creation of the Tupperware Global Links Program, a yearlong externship designed to inspire a new generation of Iraqi women entrepreneurs and, in turn, help strengthen the country's struggling economy and rebuild its middle class. Tupperware, a longtime World Economic Forum (WEF) participant, is announcing the […]

Samsung Wins $1bn Oil Contract

Iraq's cabinet announced that it had approved a $998 million oilfield service contract on Tuesday with a South Korean company for the West Qurna 2 oilfield, according to Reuters. While the memo did not name the company, Samsung Engineering was the only South Korean company on the final shortlist. Iraq and its partners, Russia's Lukoil […]

Czechs Hope to Sell Combat Jets to Iraq

Czech aircraft company Aero Vodochody and the Czech Ministry of Defense will meet with Iraqi government and military representatives in Prague on 23-24th January with a view to landing a deal to supply 20 of its L-159 fighter planes. The manufacturer, part of the Penta group, has reportedly already received Kč 25.2 million ($1.3 million) just […]

Zaha Hadid Shortlisted for $1bn Parliament Complex

The Architects' Journal reports that Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) has been shortlisted to design the new $1 billion parliament complex in Baghdad. ZHA senior architect Mohamed Al-Jubori attended a project briefing in Baghdad last month with Iraqi parliament president Osama al-Nujaifi. Hadid already has the contract for the Iraqi Central Bank building. The practice is […]

Basra Grants 30 Investment Licences

The Basra Investment Commission (BIC) has announced that it granted 30 investment licences in 2011 worth a total of 1.1 billion Iraqi dinars. Head of the Commission, Khalaf al-Badran (pictured), said that many foreign countries submitted proposals to invest in the province, including companies from the United States, United Kingdom, China, South Korea, Turkey and […]

Iranian Farast Group Considers Basra Investments

A delegation from the Iranian Farast Group visited the Basra Investment Commission (BIC) and met its chairman, Khalaf Al-Badran. They discussed the possibility of obtaining investment opportunities in various sectors, including housing and electricity. The representative of the group, Ridha Mudhahari, said that his group includes 78 foreign and local specialized companies and that they […]

500 New Housing Units in Diwaniya

Two local governments started construction on more than 500 housing units to the west of the city of Diwaniya. Total investment in the scheme is said to be $84 million, according to Aswat al-Iraq. Ahmed Hashim, acting head of the Investment Commission, told the agency that the sites of the projects were handed over to […]

Irish Companies Visit Basra

Basra Investment Commission (BIC) met a group of Irish companies to discuss ways of investing in Basra and the prospects of joint cooperation, and  agreed to hold the Irish economic conference in the city. The group consists of 12 companies involved in construction, infrastructure, housing, waste recycling and communications and other disciplines. It is already […]

Iraq Oil Income Jumped by 60% in 2011

Increased volumes and the higher price of crude oil pushed Iraq's income from oil sales up by nearly 60 percent in 2011 compared to the previous year, according to AFP. Oil ministry figures published on Monday showed that total exports of oil increased 15 percent to 790.5 million barrels of oil, or an average of […]

NIC Chair has Heavy Schedule of Meetings

The Chairman of the National Investment Commission, Sami al-Araji, has had a series of meetings in recent days with business and diplomatic representatives: met a group of Italian companies on 18th of January; met representatives of the Korean Trac company on 19th of January; met the Technical Committee of Al- Mustaqbal City on the 19th […]

US Warns on Travel to Iraq

The Department of State warns U.S. citizens against all but essential travel to Iraq given the dangerous security situation. Civilian air and road travel within Iraq remains dangerous. This Travel Warning replaces the Travel Warning dated September 13, 2011, to update information regarding the Government of Iraq's strict enforcement of immigration and customs regulations and […]