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By John Lee.

Iraq has reportedly contracted Japan’s Toyo Engineering to help build a gas pipeline to Kuwait and a petrochemical plant as Baghdad.

According to a report from Reuters, the move will help Iraq to reduce flaring and finish paying the reparations owed to Kuwait for the invasion in 1990.

The project would allow Kuwait to reduce its dependency on Qatar as a supplier of gas; deliveries could begin as early as 2019.

It would also deal a blow to Shell, which aimed to be the dominant gas player in Iraq before relations with Baghdad soured following it’s planned exit from the Majnoon oil project.

Toyo told Reuters that talks are ongoing and a final decision has not yet been made.

(Source: Reuters)

By Zep Kalb for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iran Business News.

In the aftermath of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the country's educational system all but collapsed. Illiteracy rates have exploded. Universities have turned into sectarian battlegrounds.

Systemic violence — including beatings, rape and death threats — has forced students and faculty out of campuses. As state provision of higher education has receded, private donors have set up alternative institutions, often with a sectarian and religious twist. Foreign actors have also stepped in to fill the void.

Before the US-led invasion, education indicators in oil-rich, Baathist-controlled Iraq improved similarly as in other middle-income countries, and in several ways even more so. The country’s first university, Baghdad University, opened its doors in 1957. In 1968, the government made education free and compulsory at all levels.

In 1977, the eradication of illiteracy was made legally binding. The developmental push appeared to be working. By 1980, Iraq had already achieved near universal primary school enrollment.

Saddam Hussein’s devastating eight-year war with Iran in the 1980s and the sanctions imposed by the West over his invasion of Kuwait in the 1990s slowed these gains.

By 2000, the literacy rate of youth aged 15-24 years old stood at 84.8%, slightly higher than that of regional neighbor Egypt. The gender gap was also narrowing: Female literacy rates stood at 80.5% in 2000, a figure Egypt reached only in 2006. At the same time, underinvestment in education by a cash-strapped government led to an aged and creaking infrastructure.

For all its ills, the collapse of the Baathist regime in 2003 and its replacement with a US-installed government wrecked the country’s educational system. Junior, inexperienced American officers who failed to understand the complexities of maintaining peace between the sects were put in charge of higher education.

By John Lee.

Direct international flights will be suspended to and from Erbil International Airport (pictured) starting from Friday evening, following a decision by the Iraqi cabinet and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, an airline official has told Xinhua.

The move follows the region's vote for independence in Monday's referendum.

Airlines including Qatar Airways, EgyptAir and Lebanon's Middle East Airlines had already informed passengers that flights would be cancelled at the request of Iraq's Civil Aviation Authority.

Only domestic flights will be permitted, and all the already-booked tickets for international flights should be through Baghdad international airport.

Iraq's Tourism Board also announced on the halt of domestic tourism movement to the Kurdish region starting from early next week.

(Sources: Xinhua, The Independent, Reuters)

(Picture credit: Makyol)

By John Lee.

Al Fajar Al Alamia, an Omani firm listed on the Muscat bourse, has said that port facilities in the northern part of Oman must be improved in order to handle the high volumes of rock products required in Iraq, Qatar and Bangladesh.

Company chairman Saleem bin Qassim bin Ahmed Al Zawawi said:

“We are hopeful that the current downturn in the UAE market for rock products would soon be reversed with supplies to Iraq, Bangladesh, etc.”

(Source: Times Of Oman)

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 the small desert area of Busaya, Iraqis of different sects have lived together peacefully for decades. Locals pride themselves on their hospitality and unity.

Up until recently not many outsiders really knew much about the southern Iraqi sub-district of Busaya.

In the middle of the desert and close to the border of Saudi Arabia, the area tends to be Bedouin in nature, closer to the culture of the nomadic Arabs of the Gulf States than many other Iraqis. It recently came to public attention because a group of Qatari hunters in the area for sport, were abducted in 2015. The hunting party, which apparently included members of the Qatari royal family, was released in April 2017.

The area is well known as a stop for migrating birds from Europe and hunters commonly come here, to seek out birds and hares.

Most of the around 2,200 people here are either dependent on their own livestock or the Iraqi government for jobs. And around three-quarters of them are Sunni Muslims. Yet somehow, they still elected Shiite Muslims to their local government. Locals say that they don’t let what is going on elsewhere in Iraq affect local relationships.

Around another 5,000 locals, many of whom speak with an accent that sounds more Gulf States than Iraq, are nomadic. And the area is so well known for its hospitality that there are no cafes or restaurants here. Visitors to the district are always invited to eat at locals’ homes, another Bedouin tradition.

By John Lee.

Asiacell Iraq has announced 4 percent growth in revenues from QAR 2.1 billion ($570 million) in H1 2016 to almost QAR 2.2 billion ($600 million) in H1 2017.

The customer base increased 13 percent to reach more than 12 million customers in H1 2017.

EBITDA decreased by 3 percent and stood at QAR 972 million due to network investments to accommodate high data demand as well as reconnection cost in the liberated areas.

According to a statement from the company's Qatar-based owner Ooredoo, growth was stimulated by improvements in the political situation. "With further areas in Mosul being liberated during the first half of the year, network reconnection helped to drive the increase in customer numbers," it said.

(Source: Ooredoo)

The Iraq Britain Business Council (IBBC) has announced that several new companies have joined the Iraq Britain Business Council in 2017, each of which are underpinned by strong reputations for innovation, reliability and a commitment to investing in Iraq.

Al Ratba’a Contracting Company, Al-Burhan Group, Iraq Star Group, Serco, Shamara Holding, Cresent and Rolls Royce join 52 other world- and region-leading companies that form IBBC’s Council of Members.

Al Ratba’a Contracting Company is based in Basra, Iraq, and provides high quality services with improved construction systems and processes, and innovation in accordance with the regulations and international standards to satisfy its customers. Al Ratba’a has 16 years of experience doing business in Iraq, with its headquarters based in Basrah and offices in Baghdad, employing over 800 international and Iraqi staff. Its network of clients and partners includes many international and national firms working across the country in numerous industrial sectors. Al Ratba’a has 12 years of experience working in the Oil & Gas sector, with base camps located in all major Oil fields in Southern Iraq. Its services span a wide range of associated activities across the Oil & Gas industry. For more information visit: http://intraq8.com/al-ratbaa-company/

Al-Burhan Group is a conglomerate based in Iraq and is actively involved in key projects across the country focusing on consultation, construction, equipment and machinery supply, milling, security assistance, hospitality services and transportation. Al Burhan Group is considered an “A” grade company making them one of the top companies in Iraq that is licensed and that has the ability to conduct large scale projects. Al Burhan Group has received numerous awards over the years, two of which being for Reliability and Quality of Service. For more information visit: www.alburhangroup.com

Cresent is Control of Work and Health and Safety specialists, with over 30 years’ experience working in hazardous industries around the world. Cresent’s scope extends across a wide range of facilities on and offshore. Since 2012 Cresent has been working with clients in Iraq, and has been helping make Iraq’s oil fields safer by producing numerous safety training packages in Arabic and English, delivering training to more than 80,000 people in Iraq, coaching 100 Iraqi Safety Trainers and providing work clothing, posters, booklets, campaigns and other information for people at the Rumaila and the West Qurna Oil Fields. For more information visit: www.cresent.co.uk

Iraq Star Group is a leading provider of armed security solutions for international clients across Iraq. The company is 100% Iraqi owned and based in the southern city of Basra. Iraq Star Group has decades of experience in the provision of complex security solutions and is an approved provider to the largest International Oil and Gas companies operating in Iraq. For more information visit: www.iraq-star137.com