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By John Lee.

A Malaysian firm has won a 71-billion Iraqi dinar ($61-million) contract to develop the southern area of Kut in Wasit [Wassit] province, according to a report from Al-Shorfa.

Wasit governor Mahmoud Talal said:

"The contract includes developing and rehabilitating the southern neighbourhoods of town by developing and paving streets and implementing water, sanitation and electricity networks."

The contract also includes developing various public service buildings, rehabilitating gardens and hotels in the area, and building market

The project is expected to be completed within three years.

(Source: Al-Shorfa)

(Flag image via Shutterstock)

By John Lee.

New Zealand-based meat processor Alliance Group said it was developing meat export opportunities in Iraq.

The cooperative has just completed its first full year of exporting directly to hotels, restaurants, and catering companies in Iraq, and its exports of Pure South brand lamb have increased by about 35 percent in the past year.

It said it believes that Iraqi consumers would increasingly turn to frozen lamb as electricity supply becomes more reliable.

Its partner in Iraq, Qibbla Halal, has two factories in Baghdad and Erbil, processing meat sourced from Alliance supplier farms in New Zealand.

(Source: NZ Herald)

(Sheep image via Shutterstock)

By Omar al-Jaffa for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

In Iraq, the early election media campaign has taken various forms. Notably, the government has started giving away residential land in return for votes.

In an interview with Al-Monitor, writer and political analyst Safa Khalaf described the “National Initiative for Housing,” which Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki launched, as being consistent with the mind-set of political “gratuities.”

It seems that the election campaign for the next Iraqi Council of Representatives, which will be held no later than April 30, 2014, has started early. This time, some political blocs are using a wide array of enticements to earn citizens’ votes.

Maliki was the first to start this campaign by declaring the distribution of 420 plots of land in Al-Rashid as part of an initiative called the “National Initiative for Housing.” But Maliki’s opponents considered the move to be a signal that his bloc’s electoral campaign has started.

They recalled what he said at a famous news conference in 2009, when he opposed the distribution of land to citizens: “To be able to apply [a land distribution policy], we would have to take land from neighboring countries, because Iraq’s land is not big enough.”

Khalaf said, “When the government gets defeated by its citizens, it begins exploiting [the people’s] rights and returning [those rights] as gifts. The state has used that method in past decades and now, the new rule is doing the same thing by buying electoral votes.”

By Mehmet Nayir for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

Turkey’s energy diplomacy has borne results. The oil crisis was resolved when Baghdad was offered a measurement station and revenue payment guarantees. In this regard, a trilateral Baghdad-Ankara-Erbil mechanism will be set up.

Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz (pictured) told Baghdad officials to be at ease because the process was transparent. The Baghdad government then validated the agreements between Turkey and northern Iraq and sat at the table.

Worries eliminated

In the talks, Turkey took a clear stand about the measurement station, which will address Baghdad’s main concerns. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave instructions to eliminate Baghdad’s biggest concern before starting oil exports from northern Iraq and asked for the completion of the measurement station at the border for oil and natural gas exports.

Ankara emphasized that oil revenues would be shared according to the provisions of the Iraqi constitution. Baghdad was told that they would know the exact amount of oil exported. Ankara reiterated its decision to deposit oil revenues in a Turkish state bank and then share them under the supervision of an Iraqi government auditor.

By Mustafa al-Kadhimi for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

None of Iraq’s political factions —or officials and others with political, economic or security influence — will truly answer the question: “Have you erred?”

Sometimes their response is generalized and clichéd, such as: “Perfection is left to God alone.” This in itself is pure prevarication, because it points to a lack of desire to admit wrong, and precludes any readiness to apologize for mistakes.

Since 2003, Iraq has been on a path strewn with mistakes that have reduced its forward momentum to a crawl filled with pitfalls. Yet, not one official has ever come close to apologizing for errors committed, to a point where the trend has become akin to an institutionalized political tradition.

This article was motivated by the abject failure of Baghdad’s authorities to protect the city from being flooded after only 48 hours of rainfall. Their ready excuse is that the design of the sewer system is unable to cope with rainfall amounts that exceed those prevalent 40 years ago!

Such an example is worthy of study. It is an indicative example of utter failure that reflects a denial of responsibility by city officials who, instead, consign its causes to mistakes committed by past administrations.

Electric power generation has increased in Iraq during the past few months, but transmission grids that transport electricity to homes were built 30 years ago: another ready excuse for the continued daily power outages.

The Iraqi government signs shady deals worth millions of dollars to buy ineffective explosive-detection devices, as well as defective weapon systems and equipment lacking the necessary complementary technologies. In all that, the justification is that “Iraq is passing through exceptional circumstances, and has fallen prey to internal as well as external conspiracies! Furthermore, low-level government employees and politicians have been tried for corruption as a result of those deals.”

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.

Making Themselves at Home: al Qaeda Ups Mafia-Style Extortion in Mosul

The northern Iraqi city of Mosul is well known as the base of Sunni Muslim extremists, Al Qaeda, in Iraq. But recently the militants have been stepping up their terrifying game, charging more and more “protection money” from an increasing range of individuals and businesses, and threatening and bombing any who refuse.

Recently there was a bomb blast at what is for some people in the troubled northern Iraqi city of Mosul, a piece of recent history. The owner of the Sama shopping mall in the Arabi neighbourhood, constructed at the cost of US$ 1 million and the first shopping mall to be built in Mosul, had refused to pay the “terror tax” that the local branch of Al Qaeda was demanding. The extremist organisation’s answer: On Oct. 23 a bomb, which resulted in 19 serious injuries and deaths.

On the very same day, the organization – known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, ISIS for short, or Daash – also bombed a restaurant. Apparently the owner of the Happy Restaurant in Mosul also had not paid the right amount to the extremist extortionists.

These unfortunate business owners are some of the small number who are refusing to pay the “protection money” that the Al Qaeda affiliates are demanding. Everyone else is paying up, say Mosul locals.

This sort of behaviour is nothing new for Al Qaeda – they have been extorting money from Mosul’s people for years, ever since 2004 in fact. The difference in the most recent threats and blackmail is that Al Qaeda is spreading the net wider and putting the prices higher, says a local writer Abdul Qader Mohie Saeed. For the first time, they are targeting mosques in the west of Mosul, schools, university professors and the owners of power generators; the latter are the owners of diesel fuelled power generators and locals pay for their use during breaks in government-supplied electricity (of which there are many).

By Yasmine Khaled Aly, UNIDO.

Before learning about UNIDO’s Investment Promotion in Iraq (IPI) Project, Anwar Hussein – a young, ambitious and hardworking Iraqi – had a small business but few business opportunities. With IPI's help, Anwar’s business, and life, have changed.

Like many young entrepreneurs in Thi-Qar, Anwar wanted to start a business where there was a market need. Seeing a shortage in agricultural maintenance services in the city, he started a small repair workshop of 30 square metres for agricultural machinery; with only six employees and annual revenue of USD 50,000.

A few years on, Anwar’s long working hours and diligent self-learning efforts have paid off. He has earned a good reputation for the quality and accuracy of his work.

However, as the business slowly grew, and despite his diligence and continuing hard work, he was no longer capable of managing internal problems and heavy daily operations. He simply did not possess the delegation or business management skills to handle expansion. As a result, Anwar found it difficult to generate bigger business opportunities for the workshop.

It was not until Anwar joined the business courses at the Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) – a joint initiative between UNIDO’s IPI project and the Chamber of Commerce in Nassiriya – that his vision and his business started to expand. At EDC training courses in Thi-Qar, Anwar was able to hone his skills in business management, time management, customer service, marketing and finance. More importantly, he learned how to lead teams and delegate responsibilities within a larger operating business scheme. Consultants at EDC also coached him in how to get a loan and expand his enterprise.

By John Lee.

BGR Energy Systems has signed a contract with the Ministry of Electricity for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of four 125-MW gas-fueled power project at Nasiriya.

The Economic Times reports that the contract is valued at $246 million and includes the scope of engineering, procurement and construction services of BOP, civil works and erection, testing and commissioning of gas turbine-generator sets supplied by General Electric, as well as, operation and maintenance of power project for six months.

BGR Energy Systems Limited is listed at the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange. The Company was originally incorporated in 1985, as a joint venture between GEA Energietechnik GmbH, Germany and B. G. Raghupathy.

(Source: Economic Times)

By Mustafa al-Kadhimi for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, in an exclusive written interview with Al-Monitor, said that Iraq supports a “transitional government that will manage affairs until elections are held and a constitution is adopted” in Syria.

Maliki, who opposed a US strike on Syria and any outside military intervention there, said that he told US Vice President Joe Biden two years ago that Syria “would not be resolved in two years, or even more, and that the social situation, the political and population structure and the sensitive region make it difficult to predict the end of an armed conflict of such cruelty and ferocity.”

The prime minister, whose term ends in 2014, said that the rise in terrorism in Iraq is rooted in the rise of regional sectarianism and “directly related to the developments in the Syrian crisis and its repercussions on the Iraqi arena. We are very worried about the Syrian arena transforming into a field that attracts extremists, terrorists and sectarians from various parts of the world, gathering them in our neighborhood.”

Maliki said, "Our relationship with Turkey was stronger than our relationship with Iran." He added that Turkey “has been inclined to openly intervene in Iraq's affairs. This caused sectarian provocation, when [Ankara] stood with the Sunnis against Shiites. These cases have provoked the Iraqis and resulted in backlash against [Turkey]. We have asked the current Turkish government many times, both directly and indirectly, to go back on this approach. We still hope that Turkish officials will review their positions so that our relations can improve and grow.”

Iraq's Prime Minister said he is "optimistic" about US-Iran ties and serious about preventing the flow of weapons to Syria.

By Omar al-Shaher for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

The project designed to distribute the country’s oil revenue surplus directly to Iraqis is once again at the forefront of recent events, as political blocs have begun to prepare for the general elections next year. This comes amid fears that it may lead to additional inflation in the country.

Legislative elections are expected to be held in March 2014 in Iraq, even though parliament has not yet voted on the electoral law. Meanwhile, the Independent High Electoral Commission said that it needs six months to complete the preparations for the 2014 elections, starting from the moment the law is passed.

Speaking to Al-Monitor, Bassem Jamil Antoine, an Iraqi economic expert, estimated that “each Iraqi citizen will be allocated nearly $50 a month from the oil revenue surplus,” provided that “the project's implementation is preceded by filling gaps in the budget and increasing oil exports.”

The Iraqi Ministry of Planning announced in March that “25% of the budget surplus will be distributed to the citizens soon, retroactively for 2012 and 2013.”

Antoine said it was more likely that “the budget surplus in Iraq reaches $10 billion per year,” on the condition that “the general budget deficit is filled, exports increased and oil production raised.”

According to Antoine, “the budget surplus will provide every Iraqi citizen with a monthly income ranging between $30 and $50.” He explained, “This figure will exceed $50 if distribution is limited to poor families or those who fall under the poverty line.”