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Saudi Minister of Commerce and Investment, Dr. Majid Bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi, said that Iraq has offered Saudi companies and investors 186 investment opportunities.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, Thamir Al-Ghadhban, Al-Qasabi said the two countries have decided to set up a joint Saudi-Iraqi business council to exchange investment opportunities.

He pointed out that the business council will be signed during Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi’s upcoming visit to Riyadh.

The two countries have also decided to establish a free trade zone.

For his part, Al-Ghadhban said “the Saudi-Iraqi Coordination Council has discussed a number of issues while the committees have completed preparing some files that will be signed in Riyadh."

(Source: Middle East Monitor)

By John Lee.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has reportedly committed a grant of $1 billion to build a sports city in Iraq.

A high level Saudi delegation traveled to Baghdad on Wednesday for meetings with Iraqi officials on trade and investment.

(Sources: Arab News, Reuters)

By John Lee.

The General Company for Land Transport (GCLT) has held a meeting with its Saudi Arabian counterpart to discuss the opening of the Arar border crossing between the two countries.

According to a statement from Iraq's Ministry of Transport, the participants stressed the importance of the new border facility for commercial trade and religious tourism.

A report this week from Asharq al-Awsat quotes the Chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Customs Authority, Ahmed al-Hakbani, as saying that the new crossing will be equipped with state-of-the-art technology and meet international standards, adding that he expected it to become "the top global crossing in terms of technology."

(Sources: Iraqi Ministry of Transport, Asharq al-Awsat)

By John Lee.

Ride-sharing services Uber, from the United States, and Careem of Dubai, have reached an agreement for Uber to acquire Careem for $3.1 billion, consisting of $1.7 billion in convertible notes and $1.4 billion in cash. The acquisition of Careem is subject to applicable regulatory approvals. The transaction is expected to close in Q1 2020.

Uber will acquire all of Careem’s mobility, delivery, and payments businesses across the greater Middle East region, ranging from Morocco to Pakistan, with major markets including Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Upon closing, Careem will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Uber, preserving its brand. Careem co-founder and CEO Mudassir Sheikha will lead the Careem business, which will report to its own board made up of three representatives from Uber and two representatives from Careem. Careem and Uber will operate their respective regional services and independent brands.

Established in July 2012, Careem operates in 120 cities across 15 countries and has created more than one million economic opportunities in the region.

Careem entered the Iraqi market in January 2018.

(Source: Uber)

By John Lee.

Shell is reported to be still in the process of evaluating the viability of the $11-billion Nebras petrochemical complex in Basra.

The project was designed to produce 1.8 million mt/year of various petrochemicals, using naphtha as a feedstock.

Last year, Reuters reported that Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) was in talks to join the project, but according to S&P Global Platts there has been no update on the progress of these talks.

(Source: S&P Global Platts)

By Mustafa Saadoun for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

Riyadh woos Iraqis with security talks, economic projects

Falih al-Fayadh, head of the Popular Mobilization Units and Iraq's national security adviser, visited Saudi Arabia Jan. 31 in a sign of the new and improved ties between the two countries.

As Fayadh is close to Iran and widely viewed as a pro-Iran candidate for interior minister in the government of Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, his visit aimed to reassure Riyadh that the PMU will target neither it nor its interests in Iraq.

A few days before Fayadh’s visit to Saudi Arabia, Riyadh renewed its support for Baghdad, especially in terms of security, in a Jan. 24 phone call between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Abdul Mahdi.

In light of the tension prevailing over the region, the phone call emphasized Riyadh’s desire to make up for the past and create a positive relationship with Iraq.

Click here to read the full story.

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

Saudi media group MBC announced in early February that it will launch a new TV channel — MBC Iraq — aimed at Iraqi viewers. Soon after the announcement, a number of angry responses emerged in the Iraqi media and among political figures, which led MBC to defend its plan.

The MBC group generally produces entertainment shows and social content, which will also be aired on MBC Iraq that is scheduled to launch on the evening of Feb. 17.

MBC’s television operations are funded by Saudi businessmen, many of whom are close to the Saudi royal family.

Click here to read the full story.

By John Lee.

A delegation from the Saudi Arabian government reportedly arrived in Baghdad on Saturday to discuss the construction of a 100,000-seater football stadium.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman promised last March to build a football stadium in Iraq.

According to some reports, it was later announced that Saudi Arabia would increase the number of seats to 135,000.

(Source: Xinhua, Al-Monitor)

In connection with the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO)’s ongoing investigation into Petrofac Limited and its subsidiaries (“Petrofac”), on 6 February 2019 David Lufkin, 51, a British national, and previously Global Head of Sales for Petrofac International Limited, pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates’ Court to eleven counts of bribery, contrary to sections 1(1) and 1(2) of the Bribery Act 2010.

These offences relate to the making of corrupt offers to influence the award of contracts to Petrofac worth in excess of USD $730 million in Iraq and in excess of USD $3.5 billion in Saudi Arabia.

The charges included the following:

• Badra, Iraq

Payments of approximately USD $2.2 million were ultimately made by Petrofac to two agents in respect of a USD $329.7 million Engineering, Procurement and Construction (“EPC”) contract on the Badra oilfield in Iraq (the “Badra Phase One EPC contract”) awarded to Petrofac in February 2012.

Corrupt offers of payments were also made to an agent to influence the award of contract variations to the Badra Phase One EPC contract, and for the extension of the Badra Operations and Maintenance (“O&M”) contract.  Petrofac was unsuccessful in obtaining these contracts and no payments were made to the agent.

• Fao [Faw] Terminal, Iraq

Payments of approximately USD $4 million were ultimately made by Petrofac to an agent in respect of an O&M contract on the Fao Terminal project in Iraq (the “Fao Terminal O&M contract”).  The Fao Terminal O&M contract, awarded to Petrofac in August 2012, together with yearly extensions awarded in 2013, 2014 and 2015, was worth approximately USD $400 million to Petrofac.

• Saudi Arabia

Payments of approximately USD $45 million were made by Petrofac to its agent in respect of the following contracts awarded to Petrofac in Saudi Arabia, between July 2012 and November 2015:

• Payments of approximately USD $5.8 million were ultimately made by Petrofac to its agent in respect of EPC contracts for the Petro Rabigh Phase II Petrochemical Expansion Project awarded in July 2012 and worth approximately USD $463 million;
• Payments of approximately USD $21.4 million were ultimately made by Petrofac to its agent in respect of EPC contracts for Jazan Refinery and Terminal Project awarded in December 2012 and worth approximately USD $1.7 billion; and
• Payments of approximately USD $19.5 million were ultimately made by Petrofac to its agent in respect of the EPC contract for a sulphur recovery plant as part of the Fadhili Gas Plant Project awarded in November 2015 and worth approximately USD $1.56 billion.

Corrupt offers of payments were also made to its agent for the award of other contracts at the time. Petrofac was unsuccessful in obtaining these contracts and no payments were made to its agent.

David Lufkin will be sentenced at a later date.

The SFO’s investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents in multiple jurisdictions, including Iraq and Saudi Arabia, is ongoing.

Individuals with information potentially relevant to this investigation are encouraged to contact the SFO through our secure and confidential reporting channel.  When providing information please quote ‘Petrofac Investigation’.  Please note that it would be of particular assistance if you could provide your contact details for any further queries or questions that we may have.

(Source: UK SFO)

By John Lee.

Docomo Digital, part of Japan's NTT Docomo, has said it is launching a mobile gaming platform with Zain Iraq, giving more than 16 million subscribers the ability to access hundreds of titles using direct carrier billing on monthly phone bills.

Zain Games' GamEmpire is a bundle of native and HTML5 games that can be streamed directly to mobile phones or tablets.

Docomo Digital and Zain, a leading mobile operator in the Middle East and Africa, signed the initial agreement in early 2018 at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The partnership allows Zain's 46.9 million customers to access mobile content from Docomo and have it billed monthly through the carrier.

Zain, which operates in eight countries in the region, has already launched the service in Saudi Arabia,  Kuwait and Jordan. Additional rollouts are scheduled for Bahrain and Lebanon over the next few months.

Hiroyuki Sato (pictured), Docomo Digital CEO, said:

"Launching our games platform in Iraq marks yet another important milestone in our important partnership with the Zain Group, and our first such partnership in Iraq.

"We are committed to expanding our footprint across the Middle East and we hope to bring our latest suite of content and billing services to Zain's subscribers across the region."

(Source: Docomo Digital)