The first governmental-owned brick factory in Iraqi Kurdistan started operations in Erbil on Tuesday, according to AKnews. The factory which can produce 8,000 cement building blocks daily was opened in a ceremony where Samir Abdullah, Minister for Municipality and Tourism said the ministry hopes to raise the daily output capacity to 20,000. Abdullah told the […]
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Basra's Big Business: Fake Building Contractors Defaulting on Jobs
Changes in legislation have led to an explosion in building companies in Iraq’s economic hub, Basra. Some exist only on paper but get jobs worth millions. Some say it’s the fault of US-formulated laws. Others say its corruption and public budgets. One of the most popular kinds of business in Basra city, the second most […]
Tags: Basra News, Corruption
The 22 Most Influential Iraqis
Arabian Business has just published its list of the 500 most influential Arabs, and 22 Iraqis make the cut: Rank Name Residence Co. of Origin Primary Industry 50 Zaha Hadid London,UK Iraq Culture & Society 58 Sinaan Antoon New York,US Iraq Arts & Entertainment 81 Selim Zilka Los Angeles,USA Iraq […]
Gulf Keystone Litigation Update
Gulf Keystone has announced that Excalibur Ventures LLC confirmed in the English Commercial Court in London today that it no longer intends to pursue the International Chamber of Commerce Arbitration in New York (the "ICC Arbitration") against Gulf Keystone and two of its subsidiaries. Excalibur also confirmed today that it is content that all its […]
Tags: Excalibur, Gulf Keystone
Algeria Cancels Iraq's Debt
Official sources confirmed that the Algerian government decided to cancel Iraq's debt, according to reports from Eye Media. The amount of the debt was not specified. According to media sources in Baghdad, the Iraqi foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, received a letter from the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Algeria, Mourad Medelci, informing him of the […]
Iraq, Iran, Syria Sign $10 billion Gas Deal
The Iranian Shana news agency reports that senior oil officials from Iran, Iraq and Syria have signed a trilateral deal on gas trade in Iran on Monday. The deal, reportedly worth 10 billion dollars [12 trillion Iraqi dinars] involves the construction of a 5,000-kilometer (3,100-mile) pipeline to transfer Iran’s gas from the South Pars gas […]
Iraqi Crackdown on Foreign Workers Criticised
This article was written by Hazim al-Sharaa, and was originally published by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, iwpr.net. 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. The ministry of labour has drawn criticism […]
US Wastes $34bn in Afghan and Iraqi Contracting
Reuters reports that the United States has wasted $34 billion [40 trillion Iraqi dinars] on service contracts with the private sector in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a study being finalized for Congress. The findings by a bipartisan congressional commission were confirmed to Reuters by a person familiar with the draft of […]
Agricultural Oases to Tackle Desertification
The agriculture ministry has started work on a project to create green oases in various parts of the country as a way to combat a increasing desertification due to water shortages, according to a report from AKnews. The oases will be planted with palm trees and cultivated for agricultural purpose with irritation from wells. The […]
New Schlumberger CEO has Big Plans for Iraq
Schlumberger's incoming CEO, Paal Kibsgaard, has big plans for the company's business in Iraq. The 43-year-old Norwegian, who will take over as chief executive on 1st August, is currently Chief Operating Officer of the company, having begun his career with ExxonMobil in 1992. He will succeed Andrew Gould, who again reiterated that Iraq is a […]
Tags: Schlumberger
Production at Al-Ahdab reaches 60,000 bpd
The governor of Iraq's Wasit [Wassit] province, Mahdy al-Zubaidy, has announced that production at the al-Ahdab oilfield has reached 60,000 barrels per day (bpd). According to a report from Bloomberg, he went on to say that the field’s output capacity will increase to 120,000 bpd by the end of the year, while Oil Minister Abdul […]
Iran 'Promises to Increase River Flow into Iraq"
Iranian officials have promised to allow more water to flow down the Wand River [Alwand River, Hulwan River] into Iraq from Monday, according to AKnews on Sunday. Salam Abdullah, the spokesman for a group of campaigning water activists said: “Iran has promised to completely open the flow of the river by Monday.” It is not […]