Iraq Cuts Gold Holdings by a Quarter
By John Lee. Reuters reports that Iraq cut its gold holdings by a quarter in November. Data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) showed that the country's stocks fell to 29.9 tonnes. (Source: Reuters)
UN Helps Iraqis Gain Advanced Uni Degrees
Since August 2010 the UNFPA Iraq Country Office has been supporting nine staff of the Iraqi Central Statistical Organization (CSO) and Kurdistan Regional Statistical Office (KRSO) to get their Master’s and PhD degrees in Demography and Statistics from the Institute of Statistical Studies and Research (ISSR) of Cairo University in Egypt. The programme they were […]
Roundtable Discussion on Violence against Women
The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad hosted its second in a series of ambassadorial roundtables January 22 to explore how the United States and Iraq can best collaborate to combat violence against women and girls in Iraq and promote women’s empowerment. A group of Iraqi government and civil society leaders discussed with the Ambassador ongoing challenges […]
New Term Limits for Prime Minister
By Reidar Visser. The following article was published by Reidar Visser, an historian of Iraq educated at the University of Oxford and currently based at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. It is reproduced here with the author’s permission. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq […]
WesternZagros Announces Four-Fold Increase at Kurdamir
WesternZagros Resources has announced a fourfold increase in the Company's contingent resource estimates at the giant oil discovery on the Kurdamir Block in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Shares closed up 2.7 percent on Monday, but have risen more than 21 percent since the start of last week. The total mean estimate of gross unrisked […]
EPGI Awarded 11m Sq. Metre Oil and Gas Project
International developer EPGI has announced that they have been awarded the development management contract to develop and build the new Basra Oil and Gas International Free Zone in Iraq. The project is the second largest of its kind in the world covering over 11 million square metres, and is strategically located near the southern Iraq […]
Iraq to Achieve Electricity Self-Sufficiency
By John Lee. Electricity minister Kareem al-Jumaily has announced that Iraq will achieve electricity self-sufficiency by the end of this year, "except the problem of transporting the power from the stations to the cities". In an interview with Arabia TV station, he said Iraqi power production will jump to 13,000 MW before the coming summer. […]
Iran-Iraq Trade Could Hit $12bn
By John Lee. Iran Daily reports that trade between Iran and Iraq exceeded $10 billion in the current Iranian year (started March 20, 2012). Speaking at a seminar on trade and investment in the Iraqi Kurdistan region, which was held by Isfahan Chamber of Commerce, the Secretary-General of Iran-Iraq Chamber of Commerce Jahanbakhsh Sanjabi (pictured) […]
Bulgaria Opens Embassy in Iraq
By John Lee. Bulgaria's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikolay Mladenov (pictured), has opened a new Bulgarian Embassy in Baghdad. The Minister's Chief of Staff, Valeri Rachev, has been appointed Ambassador in Baghdad on a temporary basis until the Cabinet appoints a permanent representative. Bulgaria had an Embassy in Iraq, but it was closed in 2003 […]
Sistani Calls for 'Civil State' in Iraq
By Mustafa al-Kadhimi for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Iraqi politicians — whether Shiites, Sunnis or Kurds — have for years tried to drag supreme Shiite cleric Ali al-Sistani into their ongoing political conflicts. To this day, certain parties have not […]
Iraq Stock Market Report
Advertising Feature Rabee Securities Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX) market report (week ending: 24th January 2013). Please click here to download a table of listed companies and their associated ticker codes. ID1,580 / $1,709 (-2.1%) (weekly change). The number of week traded shares was 19.5bn and the weekly trading volume was ID23.7bn ($19.8mn). ISX Company […]
Indian Company to Build Pipe Factory in Basra
By John Lee. The National Investment Commission (NIC) has awarded India's Welspun Corporation an investment licence to establish a factory for the production of iron welded pipes in Basra province. A press release from the Council of Ministers says that the cost of the project is $450 million [dinar?]. (Source: Cabinet)