Iraq to Spend $680m Restoring War-Battered Factories
Iraq plans to spend around $680 million in 2011 to renovate its dilapidated factories and start new projects, a senior Industry and Minerals Ministry official told Reuters on Monday. Haifa Hamid, head of the investment department in the ministry, said the economic reform plan was focused mainly on renovating existing factories or establishing new ones […]
Marathon Acquires Positions in 4 Exploration Blocks in Kurdistan
Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE: MRO) announced on Wednesday that it has acquired a position in four exploration blocks in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The Company has signed production sharing contracts (PSCs) for operatorship and an 80 percent ownership in two open blocks northeast of Erbil - Harir and Safen. The Kurdistan Regional Government will […]
Will Anbar Prevent Akkas Gas Deal?
As Iraq reports the results of its recent gas auctions, the western province of Anbar is demanding more control over its potentially huge energy reserves, including the vast desert province’s Akkas reservoir. According to Reuters, Anbar’s government last week rejected Baghdad’s plan for the auction due to the possibility that surplus gas will be exported. […]
Invest AD Eyes Iraqi Companies
"Iraq is ... getting back on track and it's a country that cannot be allowed not to succeed." So said a top executive at Abu Dhabi-owned asset management firm Invest AD said on Monday. Speaking at the Reuters Middle East Investment Summit, Mohammed al Hashemi said Invest AD was still putting its Iraqi portfolio together, […]
Iraq Has Most Expensive ADSL Broadband
The Arab Advisors Group analyzed the ADSL rates in nineteen Arab countries. Iraq and Lebanon have the highest ADSL fees, while Morocco and Egypt have the lowest fees. When rates are analyzed in relation to GDP per capita in each country, the GCC countries and Morocco lead the pack. ADSL remains the prevailing Internet broadband technology in […]
Iraq Mega Projects 2010 Welcomes Oil Contract Winners
Iraq Mega Projects 2010 is Pleased to Announce the Representation of All Contract Winners in Istanbul Since the Second Oil Licensing Rounds Now that the contracts have been awarded, Iraq Mega Projects 2010 Conference & Exhibition, taking place in Istanbul, Turkey, on 26-28 October, will fully examine how to fulfil the projects and unleash their […]
New Hospital Approved for Wassit
The Wassit Investment Commission (WIC) has granted an investment licence in the health sector worth more than 6 billion dinars [$5m], chairman of the WIC said on Tuesday. “The licence was given to an Iraqi investor to establish a hospital in Kut, which will include 100 beds and five surgery rooms with modern equipment,” Sadeq […]
Romanian Housing Project in Basra
A Romanian company has received initial approvals to implement a residential project in Basra, according to an official from the Basra Investment Commission (BIC). “The BIC granted its initial approval to a Romanian company to carry out a residential project, which will include 6200 units in al-Kazieza region, northern Basra,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq […]
Iraq Rises as Western Nations Fall
Iraq's developing situation continues to astound me when I contrast it with much of the west. Take the UK, where Prime Minister David Cameron has on 20 October announced £81bn ($127bn) of cuts from total government expenditure of £661bn ($1,040bn), the largest budget cuts in decades by a large margin. All this it needs to […]
Iraq Wants Hundreds of US Billions
...and it looks like it is going to get it. Iraq has lofty investment targets for the next five years. Sami al-Araji, chairman of Iraq's National Investment Commission, told Reuters: "We'd like to go ahead and shoot for $600 billion. We hope of course we can realize it, but we will be very happy if we […]
Concern for Iraq Oil
Iraq's oil pipelines are decades past their use-by-date. “We are afraid of anything happening to them,” said Deputy Oil Minister Ahmad Shamma, according to Iraq Oil Report. US concerns for the ageing infrastructure were pushed as early as 2008, but now billions of dollars are being invested to create new pipelines to protect Iraqi oil […]
100s More Companies in Iraq
Kurdistan's sixth international trade fair in Erbil opened on Monday with 850 companies from 25 countries. Hundreds of companies are at the fair for the first time. Albert Awun of EFB Arak, which organised the fair, told AKnews: "The percentage of the participating new companies in the exhibition compared to last year is about 50%, while the […]