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By John Lee.

Iraq's National Investment Commission (NIC) has included four Special Economic Zones in its list of major strategic projects to be presented during the Kuwait International Conference for Iraq Reconstruction, to be held in Kuwait from 12th to 14th February:

1. Huteen zone/ Babylon Province for medium & heavy engineering manufacturing.
   Huteen is located in Babylon Province/ Eskandariya city near the State Co. for Mechanical Industries and the State Co. for Automobiles.
   40 km to the north of Hilla city center, 50 km to Baghdad city center.
   550 km to Basra city and its ports
   10 km east to the Euphrates
   12 km to the north of Al Musaiab thermo electricity station
   Total area is 15000000 m², around 6000 donum in addition to branch streets within the site.
   Sewage, water pipes, electricity and facilities are available with limited damages.
   45 big area warehouses protected with earth embankment for highly immunized products.
2. Mid Euphrates zone in Dewaniya, 1500 donum for agricultural industries (agro-industry) including dairy products, fruits, vegetables and meat processing and canning.
3. Fine Machining zone in Nineveh (Al Kindi Co., site or Jabir Bin Hayan Co. site). One of the sites to be selected to produce machinery and equipment for medium and small projects such as valves and pumps.
4. Baghdad zone (near BIAP) for advance technologies (Smart city).
   The smart city shall provide various activities for interested people in information technology, entertainment and social technologies. It also includes a training center, weekly gathering of professionals and specialists, meetings and scientific debates halls, computer courses for children, restaurant and coffee shop, markets for electronic devices, internet services center, a training center to develop human skills, a museum for communication devices and post stamps representing Iraq’s history, halls for investing companies, halls for simulating modern training technologies, a hotel for the visitors and many other services.

The full 46-page document can be downloaded here.

(Source: NIC)

Iraqi Government Ministries heading to Berlin for International Meeting in February

Iraq’s oil and gas industry has started 2018 with invigorating news including new blocks to be offered at a bidding round in May, several high profile deals finalised with international companies as well as the continued upstream reforms led by Minister of Oil Jabbar Al Luaibi, which aim to enhance investment conditions and establish the country as the next oil and gas cluster.

“We invite all international companies to participate. This new exploration bidding round aims to maximise reserves… We are keen to make significant changes to the new exploration model contracts, and to adopt a new commercial and financial model different from the service contract,” stated Jabbar Al Luaibi (Reuters)

CWC Iraq Petroleum, taking place in Berlin, Germany on 27-28 February 2018, brings you comprehensive updates on this new energy vision, directly from the Government of Iraq, the Federal Parliament of Iraq and the Ministry of Oil alongside the established international supermajors already operating in Iraq.

The event is held with the backing of Chevron, Shell, Lukoil, Total, Baker Hughes a GE Company, GardaWorld, Vinson & Elkins, OilSERV, RSK, ILF Consulting and RPSC.

This important meeting, now on its 12^th year, provides an official platform for industry leaders to meet directly with Government officials to discuss the future of the industry as well as network and build lasting partnerships enabling commercial projects to become a reality.

Iraqi Government delegations attending the meeting include:

• Iraq Government
• Iraq Presidency
• Iraq Parliament
• Iraq Ministry of Oil
• Iraq Ministry of Electricity
• Iraq Ministry of Industry and Minerals
• Iraq Ministry of Environment
• Basra Governorate
• Baghdad Provincial Council

View the full list of speakers and programme here or visit cwciraqpetroleum.com

(Source: CWC)

The UK's Minister of State for Trade and Export Promotion, Baroness Rona Fairhead (pictured), has announced $210.8 million in support from UK Export Finance (UKEF) for the second project agreed under the UK-Iraq infrastructure Memorandum of Understanding.

The contracts with the Ministry of Electricity in Iraq, valued at $220 million, will see GE Global Services UK upgrade and repair existing turbines across 10 sites to deliver an improved, more secure power source. The project will sustain 6.5 Gigawatts of generating capacity, powering millions of homes across Iraq.

This is the second project supported under the Memorandum of Understanding signed in April 2017 between the UK and Iraq Governments, in which UK Export Finance (UKEF) affirmed its commitment to support Iraq’s infrastructure development.

Baroness Fairhead, Minister of State for Trade and Export Promotion, said:

"I’m delighted that UK Export Finance will be supporting this project under the recently signed infrastructure Memorandum of Understanding between our two governments. This project demonstrates the UK’s commitment to supporting Iraq’s continued economic development, and through Government support we are laying the groundwork for future UK-Iraq trade."

GE Global Services UK will deploy Advanced Gas Path (AGP) solutions and controls software, a technology that will improve gas turbine performance and enable power plants in the Baghdad, Karbala, Kadisiyah, Babil, Najaf and Basrah regions to operate more dynamically.

UKEF, in partnership with the Swiss export credit agency SERV, will provide the Government of Iraq with $210.8 million in support for the project. UKEF will provide $105.4 million of this support as a direct loan, with the remaining $105.4 million given in the form of a guarantee on a loan from JP Morgan Chase, for which SERV will reinsure UKEF.

This is the second of three phases of a wider turbine maintenance programme as part of the Iraq Power Up Program, where GE Global Service UK has been contracted to deliver in the period from 2017 to 2019. It follows support for a GE and Enka UK contract to construct two new power stations, agreed last year.

(Source: UKEF)

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has contributed an additional US$ 80.85 million to The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

US$ 75 million will go to UNDP’s Funding Facility for Stabilization (FFS), with the remaining US$ 5.85 million committed to UNDP’s Funding Facility for Economic Reform (FFER). This brings the total United States contribution to UNDP to US$ 198.65 million since 2015.

UNDP’s FFS finances fast-track initiatives to stabilize areas liberated from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to safeguard against the resurgence of violence and extremism, facilitate returns and lay the groundwork for reconstruction and recovery.

Through the FFER, UNDP helps the Government of Iraq to address key economic challenges and accelerate efforts to diversify the economy, increase national income and improve the management of national assets.

UNDP Resident Representative for Iraq, Ms. Lise Grande, said:

“The progress that is being made is tangible—you can see it everywhere in newly liberated areas. Electricity grids are starting to work, water systems are being repaired, schools are opening, health centres are functioning and people are getting back to work.

"More than half of the nearly six million people who fled their homes during the conflict have returned to their communities and started rebuilding their lives. There’s no question that a huge amount still needs to be done, most importantly in Mosul and the Nineveh Plains, and this is why this very generous contribution is so important for Iraq.”

The United States’ Ambassador to Iraq, Douglas Silliman stressed that the USA’s commitment to the Iraqi people did not end with the eradication of ISIS. “Communities in the liberated areas now face the daunting challenge of rebuilding their lives and restoring their cultural heritage. These funds will help restore basic services like water and electricity so that Iraqi families of all ethnic and religious backgrounds can return to their homes - safely, voluntarily, and with dignity," said Ambassador Silliman.

Established in June 2015, FFS is working in newly liberated areas in Anbar, Salah al-Din, Nineveh and Diyala Governorates in order to safeguard against the emergence of violent extremism, facilitate returns and lay the groundwork for reconstruction and recovery.

Two-thirds of the more than 1,600 projects currently underway are in Nineveh Governorate including 500 in Mosul and 280 throughout the Nineveh Plains.  Established in September 2016, FFER is mobilizing expertise to support the implementation of top priority reform initiatives under the leadership of the Office of the Prime Minister.

(Source: UNDP)

By John Lee.

Iraq's National Investment Commission (NIC) has included two airport projects in its list of major strategic projects to be presented during the Kuwait International Conference for Iraq Reconstruction, to be held in Kuwait from 12th to 14th February:

• Rehabilitation and development of Mosul International Airport.
  • Estimated cost before 2014: 120 billion Iraqi Dinars.
  • Estimated percentage of Damage: over 40% (based on the estimation preformed by specialized committees carried out at the end of 2017).
• Rehabilitation and development of Nasiriya International Airport, developing the Marshlands, and the Prophet Abraham Shrine.
  • Capacity: around 500 thousand passenger/y
  • Target capacity: 1 million passengers/y
  • Initial estimated cost: $74m
  • Buildings include: passengers terminal, runway, yard, taxi, tower, firefighting center, electricity, air conditioning systems with all devices.

The full 46-page document can be downloaded here.

(Source: NIC)

(Picture Credit: Tasnim, under Creative Commons licence)

By John Lee.

Iraq's Ministry of Electricity has reportedly awarded a contract to Japan's Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) to refurbish the Unit 1 of the Hartha thermal power station (pictured) in Basra province.

According to Energy Business Review, the power station is claimed to account for approximately 25 percent of Basra's total power generation capacity.

It's original equipment was developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI).

Funding will be provided by Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Mitsubishi Electric will be responsible for the generator-related work, while the Turkey's Gama Power System will be responsible for installation and other work.

The work is scheduled to be completed in 2020.

(Source: Energy Business Review)

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.

By Sarchin Salih.

Kurdish Crises Drive Kurdish Investors to put their Money Elsewhere

It’s not only Iraqi and international investors getting their money out of Iraqi Kurdistan. Financial and political problems are also leading locals to invest further south.

Ahmad Ali is an Iraqi Kurdish businessman who’s been living in the Erbil province, in Iraqi Kurdistan, for years. In the past Ali often looked at the semi-autonomous northern region of Iraqi Kurdistan as the best place to invest his money. Not anymore.

Currently Ali is looking into building a mall and supermarket in the Kirkuk province, outside of Iraqi Kurdistan’s official borders, at the cost of US$50 million. He is also working on a residential project in the southern province of Dhi Qar.

“As an investor, I look for the best opportunities. I don’t care about geography,” Ali told NIQASH. “At the moment southern and central Iraq are the best places to put my money.”

The market in Iraqi Kurdistan is dead right now, Ali says, thanks to the financial and political crisis here.

“The last few years we have dealt with a financial crisis, a slowdown and a significant decline in investment,” Yassin Mahmoud Rashid, the spokesperson for the Kurdistan Investors' Union, told NIQASH. “About 20 percent of investors have now left this market thanks to a decline in demand and the losses being incurred by some projects.”

In the past the Iraqi Kurdish government had guaranteed investment projects a steady supply of electricity and tax cuts for certain time periods, Rashid pointed out.

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

Two months after government forces retook Iraq’s last major city from the Islamic State (IS), the country is preparing for parliamentary elections slated for May.

Anbar, its largest and westernmost region, is where IS took control of its first Iraqi city in January 2014. Fighters from the international terrorist group are reportedly still hiding in parts of its vast desert.

How the shift from fighting a terrorist group with roots in the area to competition at the political level plays out will affect the years to come.

Provincial Gov. Mohamed al-Halbusi, who took office in the fall, told Al-Monitor that voter turnout had been very low in the province for many years due to the fear of insurgents but that he expected this to change in the upcoming elections.

Local officials, security forces and a tribal leader echoed that sentiment to Al-Monitor over a number of days in the province in early January. “About 85%” of the province’s inhabitants are home, Halbusi said, and “I think about 60% of them will vote.”

However, with many of the displaced still not back in their homes, some have called for the elections to be postponed.

Recent reports of forced returns from internally displaced person (IDP) camps scattered around the Sunni-dominant Anbar region and elsewhere in the country have also raised concern.

In an interview in Ramadi, provincial police chief Gen. Hadi Rizej Kessar told Al-Monitor, “We decided to close all IDP camps and send families back to their homes because the security is now good. But if we have some families that remain in the camps, we can arrange for them to vote inside the camps.”

Continued U.S. Assistance to Better Meet the Needs of Minorities in Iraq

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have agreed to increase assistance to Iraqis, particularly religious and ethnic minorities, to enable them to return to their homes in areas liberated from ISIS.

Following Vice President Pence's remarks in October of last year, USAID renegotiated the terms of its agreement to contribute to the UNDP Funding Facility for Stabilization (FFS) so that $55 million of a $75 million payment will address the needs of vulnerable religious and ethnic minority communities in Ninewa Province, especially those who have been victims of atrocities by ISIS.

The modified agreement ensures that the U.S. contribution will help the populations of liberated areas in Ninewa Province resume normal lives by restoring services such as water, electricity, sewage, health, and education.

The $75 million contribution is the first tranche of the $150 million announced for the FFS by U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Douglas Silliman in July 2017; fulfillment of the rest of that pledge will depend on UNDP's success in putting in place additional accountability, transparency, and due-diligence measures for the FFS.

USAID is also proceeding with a process called a Broad Agency Announcement to solicit innovative ideas that support the resettlement of ethnic and religious minorities in their ancestral homes in Iraq. The results of that competition will be available by early Spring.

(Source: UN)

Germany now UNMAS’ largest contributor for clearance of explosive hazards in Iraq

The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) welcomes an additional contribution of € 17 million ($20.2 million) from the Government of Germany towards survey and clearance of explosive hazards in support of humanitarian and stabilization initiatives.

The overall contribution, totalling € 44.2 million ($52.5 million) since 2016, makes the Government of Germany the most significant donor to UNMAS in Iraq.

The recent contribution of € 10 million to enable Humanitarian efforts and additional € 7 million to enable Stabilization initiatives is timely as the Government of Iraq seeks to facilitate the return of over more than three million people to their homes in liberated areas.

UNMAS will focus on risk education and clearance of public spaces to support the safe, dignified and voluntary return of Iraqis as well clear critical infrastructure providing electricity, water, health and education services. Activities will be focussed in Anbar, Salahadin, Kirkuk and Ninewa Governorates.

The conflict with ISIL in Iraq has resulted in complex and extensive explosive hazard contamination and has displaced more than three million people since 2014. Explosive hazards present a significant risk for individuals returning to their communities, as well as those providing the initial response, especially in urban areas where explosive items are buried in rubble and debris from collapsed buildings. Humanitarian actors are challenged to safely provide assistance and people have been forced to abandon their homes due to explosive hazards.