Basra "Threatens Autonomy"
By John Lee. Local authorities in Basra province have reportedly threatened to break away from the central government and create an autonomous region of their own. The idea was rekindled by MP Wail Abd al-Latif, who told Rudaw: “Efforts toward making Basra an autonomous region is a project and not a trump card against the […]
17k Tons of Iraqi Dates Exported
By John Lee. Aswat al-Iraq reports that an estimated 17.000 tons of dates were exported last month to Asian countries, and the exports are still continuing. Before the Iran-Iraq war, about 500,000 tons of dates are typically exported annually, but damage to the date plantations resulted decreased this figure. (Source: Aswat Al Iraq) (Dates image […]
PM Maliki Opens IBBC Conference
Iraq’s Prime Minister, Nouri Al Malki, was the special guest on the first day of the Iraq Britain Business Council’s six-day UK trade mission to Iraq. Mr Al Maliki officially opened the event, which was held at Baghdad’s Al Rasheed Hotel on Monday (November 18th). The event, jointly organised with United Kingdom Trade and Investment […]
Iraq Stock Market Report
Advertising Feature Rabee Securities Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX) market report (week ending: 14th November 2013). Please click here to download a table of listed companies and their associated ticker codes. The RSISX index ended the week at ID1,755 (-0.3%)/ $1,864 (-0.1%) (weekly change). The number of week traded shares was 4.2bn and the weekly trading […]
Kurdistan, Hungary Seek to Strengthen Relations
The State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Mr. Zsolt Nemeth, has received the Head of the KRG Department of Foreign Relations, Minister Falah Mustafa to discuss a number of issues including ways to further enhance mutual relations. The meeting was also attended by the Hungarian Ambassador to Iraq, Mr Tibor Szatmari. […]
Arab Wings Wins Iraq Gate Contract
A Jordanian company has reportedly won the management contract for Iraq Gate, the first private jet company with an air operator’s certificate (AOC) in Iraq. Ahmad Abu Ghazaleh, CEO of Arab Wings, which is part of the privately-owned International Wings Group (IWG), said: “We established and now manage an Iraqi AOC, a company called Iraq […]
Video: Iraqi Kurdistan backs Turkey Peace Efforts
From Al Jazeera. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. The president of Iraqi Kurdistan has called on Turkey's Kurds to back a flagging peace process with Ankara, in a show of support for Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's bid to overcome a three-decade […]
Oil Industry Loopholes Threaten Kurdistan’s Environment
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. Legal Loopholes in Oil Industry Threaten Iraqi Kurdistan’s Environment The region of Iraqi Kurdistan is brimming with untapped oil resources. And multi-national oil companies know it. But because of […]
World Bank Involved in Bank Restructuring
By John Lee. The acting Finance Minister, Ali Yousef Shukri (pictured), is reported to have held a meeting with a representative of the World Bank to discuss the restructuring of the state-owned banks in Iraq. According to the report from NINA, the discussions related particularly to the Rasheed and Rafidain banks. (Source: NINA)
Iraqi Rice Planting Below Target
By John Lee. Oryza reports that Iraq’s rice planting, at around 80,000 hectares, is 24 percent below the Ministry of Agriculture target of 106,000 hectares. According to the USDA, Iraq is expected to produce about 180,000 tons of rice (milled basis) in 2013-14, and import around 1.4 million tons to meet domestic demand. Iraq imports about […]
Turkey's Approach Toward Shiites will Reduce Sectarianism
By Ali Mamouri for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Turkey's Approach Toward Iraq's Shiites will Reduce Sectarianism For the first time in modern Turkish history, a high-ranking Turkish official, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (pictured), visited the Shiite holy cities of Najaf […]
Zaha Hadid to Design Parliament Building
By John Lee. Zaha Hadid has reportedly been chosen to design the new £630-million Iraqi Parliament building in Baghdad. According to Architects Journal, Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) landed the project despite coming third in a design contest for the prestigious building, which was won by London-based Assemblage. It is understood that the company has been working […]