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The local administration in Basra decided to allocate the sum of 242.2 billion Iraqi dinars (ID) [$207m] to carry out service and urban projects in preparation for the hosting of the Khaleeji 21 soccer tournament [21st Gulf Cup of Nations], a spokesman said on Thursday.

“The higher committee for the rehabilitation of Basra, chaired by Governor Shaltagh Abboud al-Mayyah, earmarked ID242.2 billion for projects including the construction of three bridges in the city and two others in the province’s districts as well as the rejuvenation of five main intersections,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

“The projects also include the rehabilitation of a road between the Khalid Bridge on the Shatt al-Arab waterway, the airport road and other roads leading to the Sports City,” he added.

The Arabian Gulf Cup of Nations, also known as Khaleeji, is a soccer tournament currently held every two years, rotating the host city each time.

While the competition is usually held on a biannual basis, the history of the competition has also seen it held every three, or even four years, due to political or organizational problems.

The Arabian Gulf Cup of Nations was founded at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico by Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The First Arabian Gulf Cup tournament took place in Bahrain in 1970, and was won by the Kuwaiti team.

(Source: Aswat al-Iraq)

Iraq has applied to join the Economic Cooperation Organization, or ECO, Turkey's President Abdullah Gul has reported, according to an article at the weekend from World Bulletin.

Leaders of ECO-member countries gathered in Istanbul for a one-day summit meeting during which Turkey assumed the rotating term presidency from Iran. Iraq, as well as Qatar and Syria participated in the ECO summit as guest countries.

The meeting was attended by delegations of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Republic of Tajikistan, the Republic of Turkey, Turkmenistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan. The representatives of ECO Specialized Agencies and Regional Institutions also participated in the meeting. Also, present in the meeting were the representatives of the Turkish Cypriot State, Developing 8 (D-8), International Road Union (IRU) and Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSEC).

Turkish President said that all ECO-member countries have welcomed Iraq's bid.

"I hope Iraq will become a member," told a press conference following the summit.

ECO was co-founded by Turkey, Iran and Pakistan in 1985 in a bid to develop economic, technical and cultural cooperation between member countries. In 1992, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan joined the organization.

President Gul also said that Azerbaijan applied to ECO secretariat to be a part of ECO Trade & Development Bank which he said was a major dynamo of economic activities within ECO zone. Istanbul-based bank, which was founded by Turkey, Pakistan and Iran, has a paid-in capital of 230 million USD.

Gul said the bank would finance an number of important projects and added that Asian Development Bank and Islamic Development Bank had plans to be partners with ECO Bank.

(Source: World Bulletin, ECO)

Qatar Telecom QSC, the country’s largest company by revenue, is mulling plans to sell shares to the public in its Iraqi unit in two years, according to its chief strategy officer.

“We are beginning to think now about doing an IPO in Baghdad,” Jeremy Sell said at a presentation in the Qatari capital Doha today. “We are going to start now. We are going to start planning for an IPO that is two years away.”

Qatar Telecom, called Qtel, owns shares in subsidiaries from Algeria to the Philippines including Iraq’s Asiacell. The company has sought to expand overseas because of increased competition in its home market following the entry of Vodafone Qatar last year.

France Telecom is understood to be close to a deal to buy a stake in Asiacell's competitor, Korek.

(Source: Bloomberg)

According to the Financial Times, the European telecom giant France Telecom is engaged in talks to buy a minority stake in the Iraqi mobile phone operator Korek, as part of a bid to expand its operations in the Middle East.

Although no deal has yet been struck, financial observers say that a potential agreement could give Korek an enterprise value of around $1.5bn.

Korek was founded in 2000 by Sirwan Mustafa, its sole shareholder and nephew of Kursdistan Region’s President, Massoud Barzani.

Although the company first concentrated on mobile telecom services in Kurdistan, it obtained a nationwide operating license in 2007 and now has an estimated 3 million customers.

Korek’s competitors in the sector are Zain, the country’s largest mobile operator with 11.8 million customers, and AsiaCell which has 7.9 million.

Zain whose network of affiliates includes several countries in Africa and the Middle East, is currently in talks to sell a controlling stake to the Dubai-based telecom group, Etisalat.

AsiaCell is part of the acquisitive Qatar Telecom which has extensive operations throughout the Middle East.

(Sources: AKnews, Financial Times)

AKnews reports that the first direct flight between Sulaimaniya and the Qatari capital, Doha, commenced on Wednesday.

Dana Mohammed, media secretary for Sulaimaniya International Airport, told AKnews on Thursday that the route is being operated by FlyDubai, the UAE-based budget carrier, in conjunction with the local Zozg and Azmar airlines, and will offer two flight per week.

The inaugural flight carried FlyDubai executives to Sulaimaniya, one of the three provinces in the Kurdistan Region, northern Iraq. The new route opened after the airport and the airline executives brokered a deal in October.

Flydubai flight to Sulaimaniyah is the airline's second destination in Iraq. It already flies to Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region.

FlyDubai airline was launched in 2009. The new carrier has expanded rapidly using a fleet of new Boeing 737-800 planes. It currently operates around 20 routes in the Middle East, Gulf region, Asia, Europe and Africa.

(Source: AKnews)

The spokesman for the Iraqi Ministry of Transport said on Saturday that direct flights between Baghdad and the Qatari capital, Doha will commence today [Monday].

Initially there will be only one flight per week, according to the report from AKnews.

The spokesman stated that Iraq wants to open direct flights with all developed countries which enjoy strategic relations with Iraq. Resuming the flights will reinforce Iraq's economic ties since the country will be linked to the Gulf countries' economic institutions.

The economic embargo imposed on Iraq in 1990s due to the policies of Saddam Hussein's regime led to the suspension of most of the direct flights into and out of Iraq.

Recently direct flights between Iraq and France as well as the UK, India, and Yemen also were resumed.

Iraq Business News believes the new Baghdad-Doha route is being operated by Qatar Airways.

(Sources: AKnews, Gulf News)

The Qatar Fuel Company (Woqod) is entering the UAE and Iraqi markets with its automotive lubricants.

“We are launching our lubricants within the region and to other markets such as Africa and Asia and the CIS countries,” said Mohamed Turki al-Sobai, vice chairman and managing director of Woqod, after appointing distributors to the UAE and Iraq markets.

The lubricants business unit has well-planned and aggressive growth targets to be the market leader in Qatar and also to expand internationally, he said, adding the company has launched its full range of quality lubricants including synthetics, semi-synthetics and mineral oil for gasoline and diesel vehicles.

The distributor agreement for Iraq was signed with Allied United Group, a large, well established distributor of tyres, batteries and associated services with a distribution network across Iraq.

“It is part of the growth plans for our company to aggressively grow the lubricants market and the range of products Woqod offers is perfect for our customers,” said Muthanna al-Halo, general manager of the group.

(Source: Gulf Daily News)

The Central Bank of Iraq has instructed private banks to raise at least $7 billion in fresh capital over the next three years to be able to handle an expected oil-fueled construction boom, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Ahmed Ibraihi, Vice Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, told the newspaper on Wednesday that these banks, numbering 32, now have a minimum capital requirement of 50 billion dinars each.

"We are taking these measures in order that companies which are implementing big projects in Iraq, including oil contracts, would start to deal with our banks," Mr. Ibraihi said.

[Click here to read Mark DeWeaver's take on the banks' new capital requirements.]

Iraq has clinched some 11 multi-billion dollar deals over the last 11 months with international oil companies to raise its crude-oil production capacity to 12 million barrels a day from the current 2.4 million barrels a day.

Mr. Ibraihi was in Istanbul to reassure the more than 20 international oil and gas companies who won these mega projects that they can deal with local banks to help them implement their projects in Iraq.

The Arab Advisors Group analyzed the ADSL rates in nineteen Arab countries. Iraq and Lebanon have the highest ADSL fees, while Morocco and Egypt have the lowest fees. When rates are analyzed in relation to GDP per capita in each country, the GCC countries and Morocco lead the pack.

ADSL remains the prevailing Internet broadband technology in the Arab World. Uptake is strong in most countries especially as ISPs launch promotions and reduce their rates. The Arab Advisors Group has analyzed the ADSL service provision and rates in the following nineteen Arab countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, UAE and Yemen.

The Arab Advisors Group’s analysis revealed that the 1024 Kbps speed is the most common speed offered in the Arab region. The average total annual cost for the 1024 Kbps residential ADSL service in the Arab region stands at US$ 736.4 per year. Rates are lowest in Morocco followed by Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Jordan, Yemen, Palestine, Kuwait, Oman, Mauritania, Syria, Qatar, KSA, Libya, Bahrain, UAE, Sudan, Lebanon, while Iraq offers the highest rate. Libya does not have the 1024 Kbps ADSL speed; however, the Arab Advisors Group’s ranking for the country is based on extrapolating from its rates of other speeds. The research also revealed that ISPs tend to waive ADSL connection fees as part of their ongoing promotions.

The Iraqi Minister of Communications has called on international companies to do business in the country's telecoms sector.

Speaking at Telecoms World Middle East, Farook Abdul-Rahman revealed: "As you are all aware, we are not short of resources and finance and what we are really looking for from you is the transfer of the latest technology for the development of Iraq."

Included in possibly as many as 15 companies competing for the fourth mobile telephone licence are: France Telecom SA, Qatar Telecom, Verizon Communications Inc., Emirates Telecommunications Co., Vodafone Group Plc, Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS and MTN Group.

A decision is expected within the next six months.

(Sources: AME Info, Bloomberg)