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PRweek reports that the Iraqi unit of Kuwaiti telecoms company Zain has hired PR agency support in advance of its listing on the Iraq Stock Exchange.

The firm has been planning an initial public offering (IPO) in Iraq since the summer and has asked London-based M:Communications to support communications relating to the listing process.

M: will provide PR and investor relations advisory services in Iraq itself.

The Zain listing is one of three major telecoms floats in Iraq planned for 2012. However, the Zain account is understood to be the only one of the three that has specified on-the-ground support in Baghdad.

It is thought the need for representation in Iraq proved problematic for a number of agencies that ultimately declined to pitch for the brief.

Nicholas Lunt, MD of M:’s Gulf business, added that the company would also be working with the management of Zain Saudi Arabia.

The news comes days after it was confirmed that FTI Consulting was working for Iraqi telecoms firm Asiacell ahead of its planned flotation later in the year. The firm, partly owned by Qatar Telecommunications, plans to sell a 25 per cent stake, potentially valuing the firm at more than $4bn.

Korek, a mobile group in which France Telecom and Kuwaiti logistics group Agility have a stake, is also planning a 2012 IPO. Korek is not thought to have selected a comms consultancy at this stage.

(Source: PRweek)

AKnews reports that over 16 million pilgrims flocked to Karbala to mark Arbain, the 40th day after Ashura, which is the day Shiite's believe Imam Hussein Ibn Ali was martyred in the 7th century.

The deputy leader of the Karbala Provincial Council Nassif, Jassem al-Khutabi, told AKnews that over half a million come from abroad, including from Europe, America, Australia, Iran, India, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and Afghanistan.

Khutani called on the federal government and the Iraqi Council of Representatives to vote on Karbala City's request to form a special body to deal with the millions of visitors to Iraq.

"The visitors need security and services that Karbala and other popular provinces cannot manage without the cooperation of their neighbors."

(Source: AKnews)

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Tuesday, February 14 to Wednesday, February 15, 2012

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With recent political unrest in the Middle East facilitating a spike in oil prices, the growth in energy projects is set to continue unabated with the Arab Petroleum Investment Corporation predicting $530 billion in investment over the next 5 years. However, as projects become increasingly ambitious and ever greater in size and scope, there are a number of technical challenges and risks which need to be clearly understood by both risk managers and their insurers in order to prevent significant losses.

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Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has called on U.S. companies to help rebuild Iraq, according to Reuters.

In a speech at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Maliki said:

"As much as we committed to defeat terrorism, we are now committed to grow the private sector ... It is now not the generals, but corporations and business leaders who will be at the front of this stage."

He told the packed crowd of U.S. business officials Iraq has the opportunity to work with companies from all over the world to rebuild itself after three decades of war, but it believes the United States has the "best companies" to help it help it diversify its economy away from one heavily dependent on oil.

"We are not satisfied with the number of American companies in Iraq," he said, adding the Iraqi government would make it "as easy as possible" for U.S. companies to invest.

Maliki led a delegation that included top Iraqi trade, investment and transportation officials and about 30 to 40 business leaders from energy, construction, health care and other sectors eager to make deals with American companies.

The U.S. Commerce Department hosted a "matchmaking session" on Wednesday to allow interested U.S. and Iraqi companies to meet one-on-one.

"In the coming years, it's estimated that Iraq's economy will grow even faster than China's or India's. With oil production rising, Iraq is on track to once again be one of the region's leading oil producers," President Barack Obama said.

Commerce Secretary John Bryson added that Iraq's plan to spend about $186 billion over the next five years on more than 2,700 development projects is a promising opportunity for U.S. companies that will also help put people back to work in the United States.

The United States currently trails other countries in investing in Iraq, despite the heavy price it has paid over the past decade in the country.

The 2nd Basra Oil & Gas, organized by Expotim International Fair Organizations INC and Pyramids International Group, concluded on the 28th November with record exhibitor and visitor numbers. The 2011 edition of the largest oil & gas show in Iraq welcomed 17,000 visitors from over 40 countries emphasizing its stance as an international exhibition.

This was the largest oil & gas event ever held in Iraq. The top five visiting countries to this year’s Edition, after UAE, were, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Turkey.

Being officially supported by the Ministry of Oil, event had great impact by being the foremost platform of the the oil & gas industry of Iraq with both its exhibition and conference sections

Having 411 participant companies, 2nd Basra Oil & Gas has been headed for a record. Top 7 sectors in the event were: “Oilfield, Gasfield Equipment & Services, Construction, Measurement & Automation Technologies, Drilling and Well Servicing, Tools & Electro-Power Equipment, Transportation & Pipelines and Refining, Processing and Petrochemicals.” Geographical breakdown of the exhibitors by region is as follows: “48% - Middle East, 36% Europe, 8% America, 8% Asia / Australia.”

2nd Basra Oil & Gas hosted many of the leading companies in the industry, including: Samsung, Mitsubishi, Cameron, FMC Technologies, Tenaris, SGS, CNPC, Emerson Process Management, General Electric, Honeywell and Siemens.

Commenting on the show’s efficiency, one of the exhibitors of the event named Viking International, said: “This was a great event for all the members of Oil & Gas Industry in Basra.”

The conference section has been held concurrently with the exhibition, with the theme "IRAQ ON TRACK IN CONTRIBUTING TO FUTURE WORLD ENERGY SUPPLY" on 26th and 27th November. Effective participation of Ministry of Oil officials as presenters in the first session attracted great interest. Their presentations were in the following domains: “The Industry’s Workflow, The Oil Domain – Oil Production and Refining, The Gas Domain – Gas Processing, The Infrastructures of the Industry, Oil & Gas and Products Disposal (Local and Exports)”.

The credibility of the event is further demonstrated by the audit that has been made during the event by BPA worldwide. Being a candidate for UFI membership, Basra International Oil & Gas Conference and Exhibition is unique in terms of its compliance with international standards. It is the first time in Iraq that an event has been audited.

Besides the deals were being done and contracts being finalized by key buyers and decision makers of Iraq Oil & Gas Industry, manufacturers preferred 2nd Basra Oil & Gas to showcase their new products into the region – the reputation of the event in the oil & gas industry in Iraq making it a vital part of most company’s promotional campaigns. General Electric had a technology seminar on the last day of the event to showcase its new technology.

After the great success of the 2nd Basra Oil & Gas, we are glad to announce that over 90% of the exhibitors are satisfied with the visitor profile, more than 80% of the exhibitors found event truly efficient and 95% of the participants confirmed their willingness to participate in the 3rd edition that will be held between 25-28 November 2012.

We would like to invite all companies to join Basra Oil & Gas event in order to take advantage of the immense business opportunities that Iraq offers. In order to get the “early bird discount” and for further information, please contact [email protected].

Iraq has recently participated in an Arab workshop on combating financial and administrative corruption in governmental and private institutions, according to a report from Aswat al-Iraq.

The Jordanian al-Arab daily said that Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Jordan are participating in the workshop in Amman, Jordan, that tackles combating corruption with new technologies and the role of governmental institutions in such moves.

The 4-day workshop is organized by Ro'yah International for Human Resources Development in cooperation with anti-corruption Authority.

Corruption is one of the main obstacles that are facing the reconstruction of Iraq, where there are hundreds of cases at the Integrity Commission waiting to be investigated.

(Source: Aswat al-Iraq)

The industrialized world continues to struggle through a prolonged economic crisis. An Iraqi commentator in Berlin considers the impact of this on Iraq and how the country might avoid negative effects of a global recession. in this article from Niqash.

Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

The Euro zone’s debt crisis, the US recession, a slowdown in growth and sharp fluctuations on global markets for stocks, currencies and raw materials: all of these indicate that the world may be facing the worst prolonged economic contraction since that which swept the world’s industrialized countries after World War I.

The question is: what impact will all of this have on Iraq?

At first glance, the answer seems easy. Iraq shouldn’t suffer too much. Iraqi banks don’t hold Greek bonds and don’t much care whether Greece is bankrupt. And as long as they are preoccupied with trying to find solutions to pressing intractable domestic problems, such as power shortages and corruption, Iraqi decision makers are not thinking a lot about what is happening inside the US or European economies.

But such disconnectedness is hardly a good sign. It is an indication that much of the Iraqi economy is not linked to the global one. And this disconnectedness is also seen in Iraq’s financial markets – more specifically in the banking sector and on the Iraqi stock market – which haven’t been able to attract much foreign investment.

Additionally because Iraq is so dependent on oil exports for its national income, the country is exposed to global market fluctuations. Any changes in oil price have an impact on the federal budget. And because, in light of a weak private sector, the Iraqi government is the main driver of the local economy – among other things, the government is the biggest employer in the country – any impact on the federal budget will have an impact on the local economy.

In light of this dependence on oil, the Iraqi government should be thinking about how to build up some financial reserves in case of unexpected developments.

By Tavish Scott, Member of the Scottish Parliament.

This article was originally published by The Scotsman, and is re-published here with the author’s permission. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

A familiar face walked across the hotel lobby. Former BP boss Tony Hayward was deep in conversation as Erbil’s Rotana Hotel hosted Kurdistan’s first international oil and gas conference.

The capital of the northern semi-autonomous region of Iraq was buzzing with activity. Kurdistan is the new Saudi Arabia with the fourth-largest oil reserves on the planet and Erbil could be like Aberdeen in the 1970s, albeit without the sea and the harbour and with sand storms replacing easterly wind and sea harr.

The Erbil conference was party to a massive exploration deal signed between the American giant Exxon Mobil and the Kurdistan regional government. But the Baghdad federal government is not happy as they would rather control all the oil and gas developments across Iraq. The Kurds are safe, attractive to do business with and do not want to be held back by the stultifying bureaucracy and delay of Baghdad’s green zone.

Erbil and wider Kurdistan have been mercifully free of kidnappings, road-side bombs and killings since 2007. It feels safe to walk and drive around despite the obvious security, bag checks and police who are present at all major buildings. Drilling for oil in Kurdistan is therefore easier than across the regional border so Exxon Mobil will be followed by other multi-national oil and gas exploration companies. UK interest is considerable, with £3 billion of investment in the past six months alone. Aberdeen headquartered Wood Group have a presence and other export-orientated Scottish service companies will assuredly follow.

I visited the Kurdistan parliament, met the Speaker and discussed where the industry would take politics. The devolved government’s budget has grown from $100 million to $11bn in nine years. Oil and gas revenues operate under a precise formula laid down in the federal constitution and will add a further $2bn to the Kurdistan budget in the next year.

"The biggest opportunity coming up is Iraq. The stability and security is still an issue but that is a growth market, especially as hopefully the situation improves and they have great plans to increase oil output. It'll be a long-term opportunity, but it's out there. We see it as a big opportunity longer term," said Larry Prein, managing director of Ford Middle East.

Ford currently has one dealership in the country and is working with them to make a mark in Iraq, according to Gulf News.

Prein said that the company also plans to expand in Saudi Arabia next year. "We've seen stability in most markets in the Middle East and growth in some markets like Saudi Arabia," he said.

(Source: Gulf News)

Reuters reports that the United Arab Shipping Company (UASC), which is jointly owned by a group of Gulf Arab states and Iraq, has picked banks for investor meetings in advance of a possible bond issue.

Deutsche Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ and UBS will arrange meetings for the company.

Roadshows will begin in Singapore on Thursday, and continue in Hong Kong on Friday, Abu Dhabi and Dubai on Nov. 28 and London on Nov. 29, before concluding in Switzerland on Nov. 30.

A dollar-denominated bond from the company will be the first time it has issued public debt in any currency, a source at one of the lead arrangers told Reuters.

UASC is unrated and will not be seeking a credit rating ahead of any potential issue given its ownership structure -- it is owned by the governments of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, as well as Iraq.

The firm signed a $302 million term loan facility in February to back the acquisition of three A13 vessels ordered from Samsung Heavy Industries.

(Source: Reuters)