Iraq Hopes Arab Summit Will Boost Its Role
This article was written by Abeer Mohammad, and was originally published by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, iwpr.net. It is reproduced by Iraq Business News with permission. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Iraqi officials are hoping that hosting the […]
US Embassy Helps Young Iraqi Entrepreneurs Create Businesses and Jobs
The U.S. Embassy’s Iraqi Youth Initiative, which forms part of the Tijara Provincial Economic Growth Program run by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), will mark its two-year anniversary in April 2012. Since the start of the program, loans valued at $3,625,100 have enabled 1,045 young entrepreneurs to build businesses that today employ […]
Three Charged in Iraq Kickback Scheme
AFP reports that three men have been charged with conspiring to defraud the US government over a kickback scheme involving contracts for ammunition disposal in Iraq. Briton Ahmed Sarchil Kazzaz and his business, Leadstay Company, were charged in federal court in the southern state of Alabama along with US citizens Gaines Newell, 52, and Billy […]
18 Cargoes of Basra Light to Ship in 2nd Half of March
Iraq will ship 18 cargoes of Basra Light grade from the Persian Gulf in the second half of March, according to a loading schedule obtained by Bloomberg News. The is four more than in the first half of this month. (Source: Bloomberg)
Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) Litigation Update
Update from Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) on litigation with Excalibur Ventures: On 14 March 2012, the English Commercial Court in London ordered Excalibur Ventures LLC ("Excalibur") to make a payment of £6,000,000 into Court within 21 days as security for the costs of Gulf Keystone and two of its subsidiaries (the "Companies") of defending the […]
Cyprus Airways to Resume Flights to Kurdistan
Cyprus Airway is expected to resume flights to Iraqi Kurdistan next month, reports AKnews. The carrier is planning to re-launch flights to Erbil on April 11, according to Erbil International Airport's relations adviser Andrew Jones. Cyprus Airway operated four flights to Erbil in July last year but then stopped the service. Cyprus Airway will operate […]
USAID-Supported SME Centers Creating More Jobs
Iraq’s Ministry of Youth Monitoring and Coordination Director General Adnan Al-Sarraj recently praised USAID-Tijara’s network of eight Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) for helping Iraqis find employment and start new businesses. The compliment came in a SBDC strategy workshop last week in Erbil at which government officials, NGOs and UN agencies joined USAID-Tijara to discuss […]
Korek Awaits Spectrum Allocation to Launch 3G
Korek Telecom hopes to launch a third-generation (3G) network later this year, but is waiting for the Iraqi government to allocate the necessary spectrum, the operator's chief executive said on Wednesday, according to Reuters. The company, in which France Telecom and Kuwait's Agility own stakes, claims a 70 percent market share in Kurdistan. Yet its […]
Egypt, Iraq Sign $408m Deal on 'Yellow Remittances'
Iraq has reportedly reached an agreement with Egypt on the so-called 'yellow remittances' - money owed to Egyptian workers in Iraq since the 1980s. The Egyptians left Iraq after the U.S. invasion, leaving their jobs and their money behind, and did not receive compensation.This has been a source of tension between the two countries ever […]
Weekly Security Update for 15th March 2012
Levels of violence rose in Iraq last week. At least 70 people were killed and 76 injured in nationwide incidents, although this figure does not include the ‘emo’ and LGBT fatalities widely reported in open sources within Iraq over the past two weeks. A significant rise in the number of small arms fire attacks left […]
Foreign Investment in Iraq Soars
In 2011, foreign firms and investors reported $55.67 billion in investments, service contracts and other commercial activities across Iraq -- an estimated 40.3 percent increase in total deal value over the previous year. So say Dunia Frontier Consultants (DFC) in their latest report on foreign commercial activity in Iraq. But did you know also that: […]
Final Draft Contracts for New Oil Round on 20th April
The Iraqi Oil Ministry will issue the final draft contracts for the next round of energy-exploration rights on 20th April 20, according to a report from Bloomberg. Companies that were pre-selected to bid in the two-day May 30 licensing round have until today (Thursday) to comment on the preliminary drafts, Abdul Mahdy al-Ameedi, the director-general […]