Best Western to Open its First Hotel in Iraq
Best Western International, a leading international hotel chain, has announced its plans to open its first hotel in Erbil. A signing ceremony was held recently with Glenn de Souza, Best Western International’s vice president international operations for Asia & the Middle East, and Halgord Azzo, CEO of Golden Mountains Company, owner of Best Western Premier […]
Iraq Law Alliance Insight to Doing Business in Iraq
The potential business opportunities in the reconstruction of Iraq are very significant, especially for the construction industry. In this interview with Phil Blizzard, at MEED's Arabian World Construction Summit, the procedures for conducting business in Iraq are highlighted by Thomas Donovan, Managing Partner, IRAQ Law Alliance, who states that these procedures do vary between the […]
WesternZagros Strikes Oil in Kurdistan - Shares Rocket
Shares in WesternZagros Resources are up 35% on Tuesday following the company's announcement of an oil discovery in the Jeribe Formation at the Sarqala-1 exploration well in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The cpmpany says the Jeribe Formation flowed light, 40 degrees API oil at a stabilized rate of 6,000 barrels per day over the […]
Alstom's Baghdad Metro Project to Cost $1.5bn
A five-year project for French engineering group Alstom to build an above-ground urban metro line in Baghdad will cost $1.5 billion [1.8 trillion Iraqi dinars] and be funded by the French government and banks, according to Reuters. The planned line will have capacity to carry 30,000 passengers an hour, will have 22 km (13 miles) […]
The Queen’s Birthday
By Chris Bowers, British Consul General in Erbil. This article was originally published by Rudaw, and is re-published with permission by Iraq Business News. We are approaching the time in the diplomatic calendar when British embassies around the world celebrate the Queen’s Birthday with, what else, but a party. We are no exception in Iraqi […]
US Contractors Accused of Iraq Bribery
The New York Times reports that two American businessmen have been charged with paying army officers more than $1 million in bribes to secure multimillion-dollar contracts to supply the American military and help rebuild Iraq. A federal indictment against the men, George H. Lee, and his son, Justin W. Lee, was unsealed on Friday. Both […]
Iraq Gives Shell Deadline for Gas Deal
Iraq has warned Shell that it needs to finalise a $12 billion [14.4 trillion Iraqi dinar] gas deal by next week or it would cancel negotiations over the agreement, the country's deputy oil minister, Ahmed al-Shamma, said on Monday. "We warned Shell that either we finalise... the deal next week or we will cancel everything", […]
Deputy President Resigns After Just Two Weeks
One of Iraq's three deputy presidents has stepped down amid signs of divisions in the coalition government formed by Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish factions. Reuters reports that the resignation of Adel Abdul-Mahdi [Adel Abd al-Mahdi] came as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki fends off critics who say he has not delivered on power-sharing promises since forming […]
Iraqi Airways to Appeal Asset Freeze
Bloomberg reports that Iraqi Airways will appeal a court order to freeze its bank accounts in Jordan following a lawsuit by Kuwait Airways. Karim al-Nuri, a spokesman for the Iraqi Minister of Transport, told the news agency: “We are preparing to appeal the Jordanian court order. Our appeal is based on the fact that Iraqi […]
Former UK Prime Minister Addresses the Kurdish National Assembly
The UK's former prime minister, the Rt Hon Sir John Major KG CH, addressed the Kurdistan National Assembly on Sunday 29th May. The full text of his address is provided below: I am immensely grateful to President Barzani for his kind invitation for me to visit Kurdistan. His invitation was issued a long time ago […]
CNPC Gets First Oil Payment for Rumaila
China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has started to get paid for developing Iraq's Rumaila oilfield, according to reports from the China Petroleum Daily. The company received its first cargo of oil as payment for helping to develop the oilfield on 28th May, two weeks after partner BP loaded its first shipment. A crude oil carrier […]
Kuwait to Offer Guarantees on Port Project?
Teh Arab Times reports that Kuwait is ready to sign an agreement with Iraq to guarantee that the Mubarak Al-Kabeer port project will not hinder the construction of Iraq's Grand Faw port. According to the Director of Information at the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Aous Al-Tamimi, the Iraqi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs […]