Iraq Business News brings you the latest information on developments and opportunities in the construction & engineering industries in Iraq.
By John Lee. Inflation for July was up 7% year-0n-year, according to the Central Statistics Department of the Planning Ministry. Prices of some food and beverages, particularly fruits and vegetables, fell. Houses prices were up by 10% nationwide, with rents up 13%. In a separate report, 'core inflation', which strips out fuel prices, fell to […]
By John Lee. Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister with responsibility for energy affairs, Hussein al-Shahristani (pictured), has reportedly said that Baghdad was considering offering foreign oil firms more lucrative contracts. According to a report from Aswat al-Iraq, he admitted that the recent fourth auction of exploration blocks had not been as successful as officials had hoped. […]
By John Lee. Un-named US officials have said that the first batch of F-16 fighter jets bought by Iraq are due to be delivered in September 2014, according to a report from AFP. Washington agreed last year to sell 36 F-16 jets to Baghdad as part of a package of deals worth $12 billion covering […]
By John Lee. The Provincial Council in Babel [Babil] has voted unanimously for "the participation of each of Karbala, Babil and Najaf provinces in managing the Mid-Euphrates airport, which is hopefully established in the land among the three provinces". The Head of the Investment Committee in the Council, Mahdi Aakul, told AIN: "The participation will […]
By John Lee. An MP and member of Regions and Provinces Committee called on the Iraqi Cabinet to punish ministries who are slow in the implementation of projects. Mahdi Haji told AIN that ministries should not hold meetings to pretend to be working, and the Cabinet should punish procrastinators. He said that some ministries did […]
By John Lee. The General Secretariat for the Council of Ministers has announced that it will form a committee headed by the Minister of Sciences and Technology Dr. Abdul-Kareem Al-Samarrai, to restore the Minaret Mosque in Samarra (pictured). The Director of Samarra’ Endowments, the Director of the Province’s Antiquities, and the province's Budget Director will […]
By John Lee. An MP and member of parliament's the Economic Committee has described the giant Basmaya [Bismayah] City housing project as "failed", and says "the National Investment Commission (NIC) will not be able to implement it." Azez al-Mayahi, of the Iraqiyya party, demanded that the NIC clarify that status of the project, according to […]
By Mayada Daood. This article was originally published by Niqash. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. In a country where the unemployment rate has caused mass demonstrations, one local economist believes that Iraq lacks thousands of skilled workers for the oil industry […]
By John Lee. Baghdad is to build 15 new bridges worth at total of $300 million (360 billion Iraqi dinars), in an attempt to improve traffic in the city. Eng. Talib Nejim al-Maamouri, head of Baghdad's Engineering Department, told Al-Shorfa news agency: "An agreement was reached with 33 Iraqi, Turkish and Italian companies to start […]
By John Lee. Modern Iraq Company for Trading Agencies (MICTA), the authorised distributor for Cummins Power Generation in Iraq, has provided a prime power solution to a cement factory in Samawa, midway between the capital Baghdad and Basra in the south. Al-Douh Cement Factory (pictured) needed 15 MW of self-generation capacity for its 5,000 m2 […]
By John Lee. Basra Investment Commission has published a new guide for investors, covering such areas as opportunities, taxes, and how to get a visa. The quality of the English translation is rather poor, but it is still reasonably understandable. You can download the guide here.
By John Lee. Professor Serwan Baban, the Kurdistan Regional Government's Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources, this week in London met Lord Green, Minister of State for Trade and Investment with officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. He also met other government officials in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and thanked them for […]
