Iraq OKs Petrofac's $330m Oilfield Tender
Reuters reports that Iraq's cabinet has approved a $329.8 million tender with British oil service firm Petrofac for the country's Badra oilfield. Petrofac plans to build a major crude processing facility to help production at the field to reach 170,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) in 2017, a target which was set by Iraq's […]
$17m for Kurdistan's Stadiums and Sports Centres
Seventeen stadiums in Iraqi Kurdistan are to be renovated, and new sports centres will be created, at a total cost of 20 billion Iraqi dinars ($17m), reports AKnews. 4.6 billion Iraqi dinars ($3.9m) will be used to refurbish stadiums in and around Erbil, while 991 million Iraqi dinars ($850,000) will go towards renovating Sulaimaniya stadium; […]
Belgian-British Firm to Build Govt Compound in Wasit
A Belgian-British company has reportedly won a contract from the Ministry of Construction and Housing to build a housing complex for its members in Wasit [Wassit] province. The company, which has not been named, has conducted field investigations for the project, which will include 240 housing units within a number of six-story residential buildings, according […]
New Iraq GDP Growth Forecast from Central Bank
Iraq's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow by an average of at least 9.4 percent annually between 2012 and 2016, the deputy governor of the central bank, Mudher Kasim, told Reuters on Sunday. "We expect Iraq's GDP in 2015 to jump to $360 billion from $170 billion currently ... The reason will come […]
Hyundai Signs $36m Contract for Iraqi Car Plant
The 'Iraqi Automobile Industry Company' [State Company for Automotive Industry] has reportedly signed a contract with the South Korean company Hyundai to manufacture and assemble Hyundai cars. The contract, worth with 44 billion Iraqi dinars [$36 million], involves the production of 2000 saloon cars annually. The manufacturing line is to be completed within three years. […]
Iraq Shortlists 6 Firms to Replace SGS for Pre-Import Inspection
AKnews reports that Iraq's planning ministry has shortlisted six international inspection companies as possible replacements for Swiss company SGS. At a press conference in Baghdad on Monday, Planning Minister Ali Shukri (pictured) confirmed that SGS had lost the contract for Pre-Importation Inspection, Testing, and certification of Goods into Iraq (ICIGI) due to poor performance, and […]
Removing Zeros from Iraqi Dinar to Start in Sept
AKnews reports that the process of removing three zeros from the Iraqi dinar and replacing current banknotes with new ones will begin in September. The announcement, which will see the Iraqi Central Bank (ICB) re-print 30 trillion dinars ($26 billion), was made despite government fear over the project. Abdul-Hussein Abtan, a member of the economic […]
Iraq Improves Terms of 4th Round Energy Auction
Iraq has reportedly made "favourable" changes to some of the terms of the 20-year technical service contracts offered under the 4th energy licensing round. International companies have been invited to compete for the rights to explore for oil and gas in 12 blocks to be auctioned in May. According to Dow Jones, the most important […]
British Politicians Visit Iraqi Kurdistan
A member of the Scottish Parliament joined a delegation of British MPs to the Kurdistan Region last week in order to meet local leaders and explore ways to strengthen political, cultural and economic ties with the Region. The delegation, which consisted of members from Westminster’s All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on the Kurdistan Region and the […]
The New Political Balance of the Iraqi Parliament
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 Business News. […]
Planning Ministry 'Extends SGS Work Until End Feb'
According to a report from AKnews, the Iraqi Ministry of Planning has decided to continue working with the Swiss-based company SGS until the end of February. Abdul Zahra al-Hindawi, a ministry spokesman, said the decision was taken in response to the demands of businessmen and importers until the completion of their commercial dealings with the […]
Dunia Weekly Iraq Market Tracker
Advertising Feature Iraq Business News is delighted to bring you the latest Iraq Market Tracker report from Dunia Frontier Consultants. The market tracker highlights the activities and market performance of a basket of publicly traded firms who derive a significant percentage of their revenues from operations in Iraq, but are traded on foreign exchanges: a […]