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The Kingdom of Norway has contributed an additional US$3 million to UNDP’s Funding Facility for Immediate Stabilization (FFIS), which finances fast-track initiatives in areas liberated from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). With this contribution, Norway has channelled $10.7 million to UNDP's FFIS during 2016.

Based on priorities identified by the Government of Iraq and local authorities,FFIS helps to quickly repair public infrastructure, provides grants to small businesses, boosts the capacity of local government, promotes civil engagement and community reconciliation, and provides short-term employment through public works schemes.

UNDP Resident Representative and UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, Ms. Lise Grande, said:

“With more and more areas being liberated from ISIL, it becomes more and more important to help stabilize these districts so that families can return to their homes and rebuild their lives and communities. Norway's continuing generosity comes at just the right time.

"Towns in Anbar Governorate are coming under government control; with this contribution we can help to repair electricity grids, put young people to work, help businesses open and rehabilitate public services and infrastructure.”

The Norwegian Ambassador to Iraq, Ms. Sissel Breie, said:

“The Iraqi civilian population is in dire need of assistance. We hope that efforts under the FFIS using Norwegian funds will help to ease the suffering. It is crucial that we do our outmost to secure that internally displaced Iraqis can return to their homes and start rebuilding their community in these liberated areas.”

Established in June 2015, FFIS is currently working in newly liberated areas in Anbar, Salah al-Din, Ninewah and Diyala Governorates. In total, FFIS has been authorized to work in seventeen areas. Most recently, the Facility has started work in Ramadi, where widespread destruction and contamination by booby-traps have slowed stabilization efforts.

(Source: UNDP)

By John Lee.

The Turkish company Karadeniz Holding has reportedly stopped supplying electricity from its three generating ships loctated in the ports of Khor al-Zubair, Umm Qasr and Abu Flous.

Local media report that the move is due to the non-payment of debts to the company by the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity.

The company had already cut supply in June pending the receipt of payments.

UNHCR in Iraq welcomes new funding announced by the Government of Italy of €441,500 to help support the restoration of essential infrastructure in Diyala Governorate.

The project aims to provide infrastructural support to restore public services, helping to facilitate the reintegration of returning displaced Iraqis in Saadiya and Jalawla districts - areas which were briefly captured by extremist groups in late 2014. The conflict displaced around 20,000 families who fled to Khanaqin and surrounding governorates.

Some displaced families began returning to their homes last year after Saadiya and Jalawla came back under government control. However, the majority have not yet gone back because of the severe damage to key infrastructure and private property. The extent of the damage is estimated at 50% in Saadiya and 75% in Jalawla. The destruction, together with the the absence of many services, is one of the biggest obstacles preventing the return of displaced families.

In recent months, the local authorities have managed to partially restore some government schools, hospitals, electricity and water systems. Nonetheless, progress has been slow and UNHCR had recently appealed to the international community for additional support.

The rehabilitation project, to be to be funded by the Government of Italy and implemented by UNHCR and local partners, focuses on the restoration of electricity, through the installation of 20 transformers and associated running costs in each sub-district.

The project also covers sanitation improvements, including providing two garbage trucks to remove solid waste in each location. A one-month public clean up campaign will also be carried out, bringing together different volunteer groups in the communities.

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 Mosul, Locals Wage Psychological Warfare Against ISIS

As rumours about a campaign to push the extremist Islamic State group out of Mosul continue, the city’s residents mount a number of small, mainly psychological campaigns against the Islamic State.

As the extremist group known as the Islamic State looks increasingly unsteady inside Iraq, there are a growing number of acts of resistance against the group inside the northern city of Mosul, which has been the group’s stronghold in Iraq for over the past two years.

Evidence for this includes the number of times one sees the letter “M” written on the walls of schools, mosques and other buildings in the city. This letter was not a casual choice: It is the first letter of the Arabic word, muqawama, which means “resistance”. It is an important symbol for those living in the city who oppose the extremist group and all it stands for.

Acts of actual physical resistance are still rare, mainly because the city is full of Islamic State members and fighters, many of whom are armed and who will not hesitate to punish those who oppose them.

Of course, the extremists do not stand idly by when this graffiti appears. They clean it from the walls and try to find those responsible.

Local media has also responded to the graffiti, publishing stories about it, mostly gleaned from Iraqi social media users, who post pictures of the graffiti and boast about how the people of Mosul are trying to resist the Islamic State, or IS, group.

NIQASH was able to collect dozens of these kinds of stories and pictures too, including an “M” on the wall of the landmark Great Mosque of Al Nouri, which is where Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State group, gave his famous speech in Mosul in July 2014.

By John Lee.

Twenty-four countries will take part in a pledging conference in Washington tomorrow, where the United States expects to raise about $2 billion from donor nations to help Iraq with humanitarian assistance, mine removal, jobs, electricity and sanitation.

According to Bloomberg, the event will be attended by Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari (pictured).

The United Nations says an $861 million humanitarian appeal for Iraq has only been 38 percent fulfilled.

Last week, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the U.S. would deploy an additional 560 troops to Iraq  -- it currently has about 3,500 troops in the country.

(Sources: Reuters, Bloomberg)

By John Lee.

The Iraq Mission Chief for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that the staff-monitored program that started in November 2015 is designed with a focus on four key elements:

• reducing budget spending and restoring public finances to a healthy state and stabilize debt;
• protecting spending on the social front to ease the lives of the poorest, internally displaced people and refugees;
• improving the quality of public spending and prevent accumulation of unpaid debt through improvements in public financial management; and,
• beginning the process of restructuring state-owned banks to reduce their dominance in the banking system, thereby mitigating financial sector risks and preserving the sector’s stability.

Christian Josz told IMF News:

"By preserving macroeconomic stability, including debt sustainability, the Iraqi authorities are laying the ground for private sector development.

"Furthermore, the authorities can also spur private sector-led growth by restructuring state-owned enterprises—including the six state-owned banks—and prioritizing investment projects, such as in the electricity sector, which will help improve infrastructure development."

(Source: IMF News)

(IMF image via Shutterstock)

Iraq is seeking to attract Mexican investors into its energy, industrial and infrastructure sectors, according to the head of Iraq's diplomatic mission to Mexico, Hisham Al Jeborri.

According to a report from BNamericas, he said that 15 Mexican companies are already active in Iraq, mainly in the areas of oil pipelines, machinery and agricultural tools.

And while bilateral trade with Mexico remains weak, there are opportunities in Iraq for Mexican firms in the electricity, petrochemical, construction, infrastructure and agriculture sectors, he was reported as saying, adding:

"We want more Mexican companies operating in Iraq, we are offering a lot of opportunities for them to get to know the business potential we have."

Iraq has this year begun a diplomatic campaign to strengthen its trade relations with various countries, including Mexico, particularly in the energy, financial, medical, construction and agriculture and fisheries sectors, he said, adding that the country aims to double the presence of Mexican firms established there.

The Iraqi diplomatic service will seek a meeting with Mexico's Pemex to broker an agreement between the firm and its Iraqi counterpart.

(Source: BNamericas)

(Flag image via Shutterstock)

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

For the past two decades, energy interconnectivity has been one of the pillars of Iran’s regional relations. From the early days of the so-called oil swap deals between Iran and Central Asia in the 1990s through the expansion of a regionally structured grid of gas pipelines, and to a growing connectivity of electricity grids, Iran has gradually become the region’s main energy hub.

In this process, Iran is not just focusing on expanding its own export potential, but on the notion of regional energy interdependency. In fact, the latest initiative — a planned crude pipeline from Iraqi Kurdistan to Iran — highlights the country’s indispensable role as an energy hub in the entire region.

Indeed, Iran and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have reportedly agreed on the technical details of a plan to build a pipeline with a capacity of up to 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil to Iran. Reports highlight that the pipeline would connect Koysinjaq in the KRG, crossing the border at Parvez Khan and then go to Kermanshah in western Iran, where the crude would be inserted into the Iranian pipeline system and potentially used in the country’s northern refineries.

The idea of a pipeline connecting the KRG with one of Iran’s western refineries had been initiated in 2014 following major disagreements between the KRG and the Baghdad government regarding the flow of payments from Baghdad for oil exports through the existing pipeline going to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. Tensions between Baghdad and Ankara over Turkey’s position toward the so-called Islamic State as well as the deepening Syrian crisis were additional parameters in the Kurdish calculation to develop an alternative oil export route.

By John Lee.

Power supply ships have reportedly returned to work in Basra following threats from the governor to expel them.

The ships, reportedly owned by the Turkish-based Karadeniz Holding, had stopped production for several hours due to unpaid debts of $85 million owed to them by the Ministry of Electricity.

The Turkish company supplies Basra province with 410 MW of power.

Local media reports that there are three Turkish vessels loctated in the ports of Khor al-Zubair, Umm Qasr and Abu Flous.

(Sources: local media, Ministry of Electricity)

The Ministry of Electricity of the Republic of Iraq (the MOE) herby announces issuing a Request for Proposal (PFP) in connection with the following tenders no. MOE/HQ/19/2016 for renewable Energy of 50 MW SAWA PV Power Plant Project on a (BOO) basis, Build, Own, Operate, at Al-Salman District, Al Muthana Governorate, Iraq.

Tender Rules against non refundable amount of 250.000 ID, two hundred fifty thousand Iraqi Dinar, to be paid against a receipt from the following address.

The Ministry of Electricity, Office of Investment and Contracts – Tenders Section, Ministry of Electricity Headquarters, Al Niqabat Street, Al Mansour District, Baghdad, Iraq.

Interested parties should note the following:-

1. The MOE will enter into a power purchase contract with the winning bidder.
2. The term of power purchase contract will be 20 years.
3. Further details are laid out in the (RFP)
4. Authorized representative should have an authorization letter to buy the Tender Rules.
5. Any further questions can be referred to: [email protected] or contact cell no. 07901935786.
6. Closing time at 12 pm Baghdad local time on 20^th of July 2016.

Ra’ad Qassim

Director General