KRG Investment Board Chair visits Austria, Slovakia
Austrian companies in Vienna heard about the investment and trade opportunities in the Kurdistan Region, at the first business lunch to be jointly hosted by the Kurdistan Regional Government Austrian Representation and the Austrian Federal Chamber of Commerce. The guest of honour was Chairman of the Kurdistan Investment Board Minister Herish Muharam, who on the […]
Maliki meets US Deputy Secretary for Resources
Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Thomas R. Nides visited Iraq from December 10-11, 2012, and met with President Jalal Talabani, Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hoshyar Zebari, and Minister of Finance, Rafi al-Issawi in Baghdad. Deputy Secretary Nides and his Iraqi interlocutors discussed U.S.-Iraqi relations under the Strategic Framework […]
Advancing Iraq’s Unfinished Constitutional Agenda
Drafted and adopted by a referendum in 2005, the Iraqi constitution outlines the structure of the federal government and stipulates what bodies should form its legislative, executive and judicial branches. The legislative branch is to consist of the Council of Representatives (CoR; the Iraqi parliament) and the Federation Council, an ‘upper chamber’ of parliament that […]
New Date for Anbar Investment Commission Conference
Anbar Investment Commission (AIC) announced today that it is postponing its third annual international conference which was scheduled for December 15-17, 2012 in the city of Erbil, Kurdistan, Iraq. The Commission's Board of Directors met yesterday and decided it would be best to postpone the conference to allow for greater participation and sponsorship. Many companies […]
A Home-grown Rally
By Mark DeWeaver. Another roller coaster year for the ISX is drawing to a close. By the middle of May, the Rabee Securities RSISX index had fallen 24% from its early October 2011 peak. Since then, the market has staged a dramatic rebound. As of December 8, the index was down just 3% from the […]
Weekly Security Update
By Gary Sandiford, Olive Group’s Dubai based assessments manager. Olive Group is a leading provider of security and technology solutions and has operated continuously in Iraq since 2003. Overview Olive Groups Iraq statistics are drawn from multiple sources, including media reporting and direct liaison with in country assets. Included within the statistics are a […]
WesternZagros Completes Successful Oil Test at Kurdamir-2
By John Lee. WesternZagros Resources has announced that it and the operator, Talisman, are preparing to complete the Kurdamir-2 well after successfully finishing an additional cased-hole test in the Oligocene Formation (DST#7). The test was conducted over a 24 metres thick interval between depths of 2,528 metres and 2,552 metres. It achieved a stabilized flow […]
Iraq "The Next Big Market" For Baker Hughes?
By John Lee. An article from Seeking Alpha speculates that Iraq could provide solid opportunities to oil field services firms like Baker Hughes, but points out that there are significant risks and issues that need to be addressed before international firms can participate wholeheartedly in this promising market. Baker Hughes has been making steady progress […]
Iraq Launches National Education Strategy
The Government of Iraq has launched a new national education strategy to improve access to quality education for Iraq’s 33 million citizens. “This is Iraq’s first ever national education strategy, which is unique in both Iraq and the region,” said Dr. Mohammed Ali Tamim, Iraq’s Minister of Education. “This strategy will respond to the needs […]
Iraq Completes $146m Baghdad Water Scheme
By John Lee. Iraq has completed a new $146-million project to supply drinking water to much of Baghdad's population. Saleh al-Mutlaq (pictured), deputy prime minister for service affairs, told Al-Shorfa: "The ministry of municipalities opened the Abu Ghraib Great Water Project ... It will provide drinking water to houses through modern networks, and will cover […]
Haiti Jumps Ahead of Iraq in Corruption Perceptions Index
By John Lee. Transparency International has said that Iraq maintained its position in the global Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). In the latest annual list, Libya was in 8th-last position, a ranking it shared last year with Haiti, which has improved its position by two places. From at total of 176 countries, Iraq came in at […]
UNAMI Welcomes Voter Registration
The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General (SRSG) for Iraq, Mr. Martin Kobler (pictured), has welcomed the beginning of the first voter registration update in three years as part of preparations for the forthcoming Governorate Council elections on 20 April 2013. “The opening of 891 Voter Registration Centres is an important step towards transparent […]