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IBBC Autumn Conference 2017: ‘Together We Build Iraq’
12 November 2017, The Address Dubai Marina, Dubai

The Iraq Britain Business Council (IBBC) is pleased to invite you to the IBBC Autumn Conference at The Address Hotel Dubai Marina, United Arab Emirates, on Sunday 12 November 2017.

This years’ event follows IBBC’s successful inaugural conference of 2016 held in the UAE, a hub for global and regional companies that operate in the Middle East.

The theme of this year’s Autumn Conference is ‘Together We Build Iraq’ and will focus predominantly on the ongoing effects and needs of Iraq’s reconstruction and the opportunities of investment available to British and International companies during this process. There will also be panels discussing the Power and Oil & Gas sectors.

The five conference sessions will focus on:

• Strengths and Weaknesses of the Economy in Iraq
• Reconstruction and Infrastructure – The Built Environment
• Enabling Reconstruction
• Power
• Oil & Gas

The IBBC Autumn Conference 2017 will be chaired by Vikas Handa, IBBC UAE Representative and will be led by the following confirmed speakers:

• Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne, The Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Iraq, Azerbaijan & Turkmenistan and President of IBBC
• H.E. Mr Qasim Al-Fahdawi, Minister of Electricity
• H.E. Mr Kadhim Finjan Al Hamimi, Minister of Transport
• H.E. Mrs Ann Nafi Aussi Balbool, Minister of Construction, Housing and Public Municipalities
• H.E. Dr Sami Al Araji, Chairman of the National Investment Commission
• Marwa Alnasaa, Resident Representative for Iraq, International Monetary Fund (IMF)
• Dr Jaafar Dhia Jaafar, CEO, URUK Engineering
• Zaid Elyaseri, Iraq Country Manager, BP
• Peter Mohring, Managing Director – Aviation & Defence, Serco
• Zeeshan A. Sheikh, EMENA Infrastructure & Natural Resources, International Finance Corporation
• Suha AlKifaee, Managing Director, IIB
• Zaid Al-Ansari, Executive Country Manager-Iraq, GE
• Tarek Hamade, Environment & Infrastructure lead for the Middle East, Wood plc
• Tawfiq Tabbaa, Managing Partner – Iraq, Eversheds Sutherland
• Salem Chalabi, Partner, Stephenson Harwood Middle East LLP
• Nikolay Dimitrov, Business Development Manager (Middle East and Africa), KCA Deutag
• Anne Kerr, Global Head – Urbanisation, Mott MacDonald
• Iain Rawlinson, Group Commercial Director, Gulftainer
• Phill Sherwood, Executive Director, AMAR International Charitable Foundation
• Danielle Montgomery, Managing Director, Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, OPIC

A pre-conference reception and networking event will be held on Saturday 11 November at 18:00 at the Address Dubai Marina.

IBBC warmly thanks the International Islamic Bank, which has generously agreed to be the event’s Gold Sponsor, in addition to Silver sponsors Serco & Gulftainer. Completing the sponsorship line-up are Wood plc, which will serve as the Reception sponsor, and Coffee Break Sponsors KCA Deutag & Eversheds Sutherland.

Sponsorship opportunities are still available. Please email [email protected] for details.

Registration is now open. The registration fee for non-members is £700. IBBC members and members of partner organisations are entitled to special discounted rates. To request the discount codes or if you need assistance, please email the team at [email protected] or phone +44 (0) 20 7222 7100.

The IBBC team looks forward to seeing you in Dubai for the Autumn Conference.

Download the latest Agenda Here.

Stabilization in Mosul: 300 projects underway and 10,000 people put to work

Three years of ISIL occupation and fierce fighting to retake the Mosul caused widespread destruction.

In 10 months, nearly one million Iraqis fled the city. 700,000 are still displaced. Mosul is one of the largest stabilization challenges the people of Iraq and the UN have ever faced. US$700 million is needed for West Mosul alone.

At the request of the Prime Minister of Iraq, UNDP established the Funding Facility for Stabilization (FFS) in June 2015 to help rapidly stabilize newly retaken areas.

Iraq and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are changing the way stabilization is done. Iraqi officials assess what needs to be done. They ask UNDP, and UNDP responds.

More than 1,100 projects are underway in 23 cities, restoring water and electricity, repairing schools, hospitals, and transport networks, and putting tens of thousands of people back to work. 95% of all stabilization work is contracted through the local private sector.

Local companies are rebuilding their own cities employing local labour. Stabilization is about speed and functionality.

The top priority now is Mosul. 300 projects are already underway, many started even as the fighting was continuing. 10,000 people of Mosul are working on stabilization, so that residents can return home safely, with dignity, and build back their cities.

Increased stability in Iraq can lay the foundations for longer term reconciliation and generate much-needed hope for the millions of Iraqis affected by this conflict.

(Source: UNDP in Iraq)

The Iraqi authorities and the staff of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) held discussions in Amman from September 17 to 28, 2017 on the third review of Iraq’s 36-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA).

The IMF Executive Board approved the SBA on July 7, 2016 (See Press Release No. 16/321), and completed the second review on August 1, 2017 (See Press Release No. 17/311).

At the end of the mission, Mr. Christian Josz, Mission Chief for Iraq, issued the following statement:

“The Iraqi authorities and IMF staff started discussions on the third review of the SBA and made good progress towards reaching agreement on a draft 2018 budget in line with the SBA. These discussions will continue during the upcoming IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings from October 13–15, 2017 in Washington, DC.”

“During the visit, the team met with the Acting Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI), Dr. Ali Mohsen Ismail Al-Allaq, Acting Deputy Minister of Finance, Dr. Maher Johan, , and officials from the Prime Minister’s office, ministries of finance, oil, planning, and electricity, the State Oil Marketing Organization, the Central Statistical Organization, the Central Bank of Iraq, and the Board of Supreme Audit. The team would like to thank the Iraqi authorities for their cooperation and the open and productive discussions.”

(Source: International Monetary Fund)

By Robert Cole, AMAR Foundation.

Crescent Petroleum, one of the Middle East’s oldest and largest upstream oil companies, and Dana Gas, one of the largest private sector natural gas companies in the region, have joined forces to fund the running costs of a healthcare centre and vocational training centre for displaced people in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq for the next three years, the two companies today announced.

The three-year commitment will fund the entire running costs of AMAR International Charitable Foundation’s Primary Healthcare Centre and vocational training centre in Khanke Camp, which serve the whole community, including 16,000 Yazidi residents.

The healthcare centre plays a vital role in providing healthcare to those who would otherwise be unable to access medical support. In the second quarter of 2017, the clinic saw 26,404 cases, conducting 5,411 maternal health consultations and 2,034 child consultations.

Commenting on the donation, Crescent Petroleum’s CEO Majid Jafar said:

“At Crescent Petroleum, we aim to empower local communities by not only providing energy solutions to fuel their development, but also by responding to their social and economic needs. Internally displaced people (IDPs) are among the world’s most vulnerable populations but they are often overlooked by international relief efforts, and we are committed and honoured to assist their healthcare needs in partnership with AMAR Foundation.”

The natural gas produced by the companies from the Khor Mor field supplies more than 1,750 MW of affordable electricity to the Kurdistan Region, giving schools, hospitals and other vital entities a non-disruptive water and electricity supply for millions of people.

The Duhok Health Directorate has seen the population of the region more than double over the last two and a half years due to the massive influx of IDPs from the Sinjar and Mosul regions, putting increasing pressure on healthcare access.

Patrick Allman-Ward, Dana Gas’ CEO, said:

“Our corporate social responsibility programme has been at the heart of Dana Gas’ operations since its inception in 2005. Providing financial support to those in need is not only a moral obligation, it also has a positive impact on the communities where we operate.”

AMAR’s Chairman and Founder, the British Conservative Peer, Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne, said she was “overwhelmed” by the generosity of Dana Gas and Crescent Petroleum:

“AMAR builds, staffs and runs five state-of-the-art heath centres on an extremely low budget. The generous donation from Crescent Petroleum and Dana Gas means we can continue with the marvellous work being done in Khanke by our locally trained doctors and nurses for the next three years.”

PLEASE CLICK HERE IF YOU CAN HELP – ANY AMOUNT LARGE OR SMALL.

(Source: AMAR Foundation)

Iran’s Deputy Energy Minister for Electricity and Energy Affairs Houshang Falahatian (pictured) has stated that the power grids of Iran and Iraq will be interconnected in mid-November 2017.

“Iran is ready to take a serious part in reconstruction of the Iraqi electricity grid once terrorists have been eliminated from the area” Falahatian added.

He also emphasized Iran’s readiness to engage “seriously” in three sectors including reconstruction of Iraq's production, distribution and transmission lines, and the participation of the Iranian private sector.

Falahatian also said pointed out the need to synchronize the electricity grids of the two countries, saying that the plan is to connect the two countries’ power grids in mid-November this year, which could play an important role in increasing the amount of electricity exchanges.

In case of any request from the Iraqi government, the possibility exists to reconstruct the Iraqi distribution and transmission networks within two years.

(Source: GardaWorld)

KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani received Mr. Park Young-Kyu, the Consul General of Korea, and his accompanying delegation, in Erbil.

Mr. Park conveyed a letter from Mr. Moon Jae-In, President of the Republic of Korea, inviting stronger relations between Erbil and Seoul.

He expressed Korea’s readiness to cooperate with the Kurdistan Region on technology development and discussed the Korean International Cooperation Agency’s (KICA) capacity to help with electricity production and distribution.

He also expressed his government’s interest in helping to strengthen the public sector and said next month they will open a center to train public employees.

Prime Minister Barzani expressed his appreciation for President Moon’s letter and stressed the KRG’s desire also to strengthen bilateral relations between Erbil and Seoul.

Prime Minister Barzani said that the KRG will welcome Korean companies to invest in the Kurdistan Region and share their expertise, especially in the field of e-governance.

(Source: KRG)

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

The Lebanese authorities arrested a former Iraqi minister who was wanted by Interpol at the airport in Beirut Sept. 8. The identity of the minister has not been released yet, but Lebanese officials have said that he holds British citizenship.

Many officials with dual nationality accused by the Iraqi authorities of corruption have fled the country in order to escape prosecution. Basra Gov. Majid al-Nasrawi is a case in point; he left Iraq on an Australian passport Aug. 18 in defiance of an arrest warrant over suspected corruption.

Several other officials have also left the country, including former Ministers Abdul Falah al-Sudani (trade), Hazim Shaalan (defense) and Ayham al-Samarrai (electricity).

For two years, the Iraqi parliament has not been able to pass a bill bringing an end to officials holding dual citizenship, despite its inclusion in a list of parliamentary reforms announced by speaker Salim al-Jabouri in August 2015, as part of a package of government measures following widespread demonstrations in Baghdad to demand reform.

The bill, which has been suspended since the last parliamentary term, deals with the rules on Iraqi officials holding two nationalities. It is based on Article 18 of the Iraqi Constitution, which demands that holders of senior and “sovereign” offices give up their “acquired citizenship.”

However, the constitution charges the legislature with the task of working out the details and drawing up a law on the issue, something the Iraqi parliament has so far failed to do.

Amal al-Bayati, a member of the Council of Representatives, told Al-Monitor that Iraqi holders of foreign citizenship often escape justice because they can use it at the first sign of trouble. “The number of dual citizens in parliament is very high, which poses major difficulties when it comes to passing this law,” she said.

Unit No.4 of the Hartha Thermal Power Station has re-started operations and is supplying 200MW of electricity to the grid, following rehabilitation works funded with the Japanese ODA loan.

A completion ceremony was held on 7th September, attended by Mr. Adel Kadhim Jaryan, Deputy Minister of Electricity, Representatives of Basra Governorate, officials of Ministry of Electricity, H.E. Mr. Fumio Iwai (pictured), Japanese Ambassador to Iraq, and Mr. Yuho Hayakawa, Chief Representative, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Iraq Office.

JICA described the re-start as "well ahead of the original construction schedule, thanks to outstanding endeavours jointly made by Ministry of Electricity and the Contractor (Joint Venture of Mitsubishi-Hitachi Power Systems [MHPS] and [Turkish firm] GAMA)."

The Hartha Thermal Power Station (HTPS), with four units of 200 megawatts (MW) each, was originally built to generate 800 MW in total. The power station, one of the largest in Basrah Governorate, was built in 1982 by the Japanese companies with Japan’s financial assistance. However, due to aging as well as serious damage during past conflicts, two of the four units have been inactive for several years.

The remaining two units -- No. 1 and No. 4 -- have continued in operation due to the maintenance efforts of the staff of Ministry of Electricity, in spite of huge deterioration in their generation capacities and frequent disruptions.

JICA signed an ODA loan agreement in the amount of 20,224 million yen ($194 million) with the Iraqi Government on 23rd February, 2015, to facilitate the rehabilitation of Unit No. 4, and has financially supported the project since then. The loan has an interest rate 0.8 percent per annum for the rehabilitation works, and 0.01% per annum for the consulting services, and its repayment period is 15 years including a grace period of 5 years.

The project increases the annual power generation of the Unit from 860 GWh to 1,489 GWh, which is equivalent to the total electricity consumption of 800,000 Iraqi people for one year; it also helps to stabilize electricity supply.

Assistance to the electricity sector is one of the pillars of JICA’s cooperation to Iraq. In addition to support for Unit No. 4, JICA also signed an ODA loan on August 5, 2017 for rehabilitation of Unit No. 1 of Hartha Thermal Power Station.

Since 2008, JICA has signed seven loan agreements for electricity projects in Iraq including the one signed on August 5, 2017, amounting to 196.648 billion Japanese yen (equivalent to approximately $1.8 billion) in total. These loans are used for the rehabilitation and development of four power plants, and transmission and distribution facilities, all over the country.

In addition to the financial cooperation, more than two thousand Iraqi officials have participated in the JICA’s training programs for capacity building of the electricity sector since 2003.

(Source: JICA)

Ahead of the international Basra Oil, Gas & Infrastructure 2017 Conference which CWC Group hosts annually with the Basra Governorate, the Basra Council and the Basra Oil Company, Nawar Abdulhadi, MENA Director for CWC Group interviewed Mr Ali Shadad Al Fares, Chairman of the Oil & Gas Committee at the Basra Council.

Mr Ali Fares highlights the importance of the Conference for the province this year as well as for the rest of Iraq as Basra moves towards expanding to accommodate the upcoming projects in the new era focusing on rebuilding Iraq.

Mr Al Fares touched upon the oil, gas, petrochemicals and power projects, the infrastructure and constructions projects as well as the transportation and logistics projects which will be addressed at the international conference in Beirut between the 30-31^st of October.

Nawar Abdulhadi: What are the current opportunities for companies investing in oil and gas in Basra?

Mr Al Fares: There are many opportunities, which are the focus of the local government of Basra and the Federal Oil Ministry. I would like to highlight the following:

1. Strategic Sea Water Project to supply the fields for water injection.
2. Aqaba pipeline project, which extends from Rumaila field to Najaf Governorate.
3. Investment project in the gas fields with a new economic model (Nahran Omar, national fields, the exploitation of gas flared in the fields of other remaining licensing rounds)
4. Investment in non-invested oil fields that are managed through the small and medium national effort.
5. The joint fields with the Iranian side and the Kuwaiti side.
6. There are different projects within which the size of investment is very important as they must be within the contracts of the licensing rounds, such as digging new wells and the maintenance of the old and the infrastructure of the oil and gas sector.
7. The Muftiyah tourist project in Basra, located on the Shatt al-Arab, using the private investment model .

Iraq has signed for receiving a Japanese loan worth USD270 million according to a statement from the Japanese Embassy in Iraq.

The loan is designed to improve Iraq’s financial situation and to help the country proceed with reforms, the statement by the embassy said, noting that it comes as a second tranche of a USD500 million Japanese financial assistance commitment.

The statement said falling world oil prices and spending on defence and refugee relief portfolios had largely reduced the country’s budget resources. It also pointed to earlier assessments by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which estimated Iraq’s budget deficit for 2016 by 14.1% and public debt for the same year by 6.99% of the GDP.

In February, Japan approved a loan of about $100 million to support humanitarian, counter-terrorism and infrastructure projects in Iraq.  In January, Japan agreed to lend Iraq up to 27.2 billion yen ($240 million) to rebuild damaged electricity infrastructures in areas recaptured from Islamic State militants.

(Source: GardaWorld)