Iranian Invasion: Karbala’s Hotel Owners Fighting for their Livelihood
Karbala relies heavily on Iranian pilgrims to important religious sites in the area. But hotel owners are crying foul: they say Iranians are openly monopolizing tourism in Karbala and covertly buying up local properties, according to this article from Niqash. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views […]
Zain Iraq signs $650m deal with Ericsson
In one of the largest deals of its kind in the Middle East, Zain, one of Iraq’s leading mobile telecommunications providers, has signed a US$650 million five-year network outsourcing agreement with Ericsson, the world's leading provider of telecommunications technology and services and its local partner SIM (Service in Motion). Under this agreement, Ericsson will optimize, […]
Groundstar Resources Presses Ahead at Qara Dagh
Groundstar Resources has announced that it is joining with its partners, Niko Resources and Vast Resources, in proceeding at Qara Dagh, where site-preparation, engineering and logistics will be carried out in the first half of 2012. The QD-2 well is anticipated to spud in the second half of 2012. Groundstar and partners are also exploring […]
Professional Association for Iraqi English Teachers Formed
More than 100 educators from all over Iraq attended a conference in Baghdad sponsored by the U.S. Embassy and the British Council November 17-19 to launch the country’s first association dedicated to professional development and networking for English teachers. The participants, representing the primary, secondary, and university levels, established an Iraqi affiliate of the international […]
GE Opens New Offices in Iraq
GE marked the opening of its dedicated office in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, with the first GE Day. The event underlined the company’s focus on strengthening public private partnerships, highlighted by the recent multi-million dollar, multi-year agreement with Mass Global Investment Company to support power distribution in Northern Iraq. GE […]
More Anti-Baath Legislation in Iraq
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. […]
Ford eyes Iraq Expansion
"The biggest opportunity coming up is Iraq. The stability and security is still an issue but that is a growth market, especially as hopefully the situation improves and they have great plans to increase oil output. It'll be a long-term opportunity, but it's out there. We see it as a big opportunity longer term," said […]
Iraq signs $349m Power Deal with Greece's Metka
Reuters reports that Iraq signed a $349 million contract with Greek power plant builder Metka, a subsidiary of the Mytilineos Group, on Wednesday. The Shat-Al-Basra Power Plant Project will be a gas-fired, 1,250-MW power plant in southern Iraq. It comprises 10 units of 125 MW each, which were purchased from General Electric in a contract […]
Lafarge to Triple Cement Production at Karbala
Lafarge plans to triple cement production over the next two to three years at its plant in Karbala, according to Bloomberg. Eric le Blan, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Lafarge's partner MerchantBridge, told the agency that production at Karbala would increase from 576,000 tons of cement per year to at least 1.8 million tons by 2013 […]
British Companies Urged to Act Now at Middle East Association Iraq Conference
British companies need to move fast if they are to gain a foothold in Iraq and avoid losing out to their competitors. This was the clear message given at the Middle East Association’s ‘Iraq: Untapped Opportunities’ conference held on 22nd November at the Dorchester Hotel, London. Supported by the National Investment Commission of Iraq, UK […]
Hermes Datacommunications Receives Trading Licence
Hermes Datacommunications International Limited, a key specialist providing Wide Area Network communications to the upstream oil and gas industry has announced that they have received their trading license for Iraq. The Hermes Datacomms Iraq branch has been approved by the Republic of Iraq Ministry of Trade. By obtaining this license, Hermes Datacomms further secures its […]
Weekly Security Update for 24th November 2011
Levels of violence rose in Iraq over the past week, particularly in Mosul and the central provinces. There was a rise in bomb attacks, a steady number of shootings and at least two injuries caused by indirect fire (rockets and mortars). At least one person was kidnapped in the north of the country. The head […]