Spanish Equipment Rental Company Moves Into Iraq
Spanish equipment rental company GAM (General de Alquiler de Maquinaria) has announced a major investment to enter the Iraqi market. Chief Operating Officer, Carlos Araoz, told IRN that the new depot in Erbil would be part funded using $20 million from an American source. "In Iraq I will not have Loxam or Lavendon competing with […]
Iraqi Transport Ministry Buys New Ships - Jobs to Follow
The Iraqi Transportation Minister, Amer Abdul-Jabbar, said that the ministry has signed a contract to purchase 66 vessels from an international company in order to reduce import expenditure, according to a report from AKnews. He said the ships will arrive next Monday and will create many job opportunities. Abdul-Jabbar noted that the project needs the […]
More Bickering Over Kurdish Oil Exports
Iraqi Kurds have not delivered on promises to ship 100,000 barrels of oil a day to the outside world through Iraqi national pipeline network, the Oil Ministry has said, according to Azzaman News Agency. “The Ministry of Natural Resources in the (Kurdish) region has exhibited no sign of cooperation so far. It has not supplied […]
China/Syria Talks on Refinery for Iraqi Oil
Syria's Oil Minister Sufian Alao [Sufian Allaw] has met representatives of Chinese companies in Beijing to discuss the long-delayed refinery project that could help save Syria billions of dollars in fuel imports. The refinery could eventually take oil from Iraq, if political differences between Syria and Iraq that have delayed plans to re-activate an oil […]
Iraq Targets China, Avoids 'Clean Energy' Europe
Iraq plans to increase oil exports to Asia, especially India and China, the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) Director General Falah al-Amri said in Baghdad. “Europe is an old market, and it has made plans to diversify away from oil to cleaner alternatives,” Amri said in a speech marking the 50th anniversary of the Organization […]
Teachers Being Hired Throughout Iraq
The Education Ministry has confirmed plans to offer new staff to schools nationwide, depending on their needs. An official source in the ministry said that schools in the outskirts of Baghdad, and in other provinces which suffered security problems, like Mosul, Diyala, and Anbar, will be given priority.
German School Opens in Erbil
The German School in Erbil, Kurdistan-Iraq was officially opened on 16 September by Safin Muhsin Dizayee, the Regional Government’s Education Minister, Nihad Qoja, the Chairman of the School Association and Stefan Bantle, the Head of the German Consulate-General in Erbil. It is thus the newest of a total of more than 130 German schools abroad […]
Oil Ministry Calls For More Border Crossings
The Iraqi Oil Ministry is seeking to open more border crossings to make it easier for foreign firms to bring their oil equipment to Iraq. “Foreign firms working on boosting Iraq’s oil production submitted a request to the Kuwaiti authorities to open a border crossing so that they can bring their equipment into Iraq,” a […]
Weekly Security Update for 16th September 2010
National Overview The national level of hostile incidents increased in this reporting period from 126 to 140. The number of incidents peaked towards the start of the reporting period but declined as the Eid Festival approached. The number of incidents during 2009 Ramadan was higher than for the same period this year, although the August/September […]
Iraq, The 'Awakening Economic Giant'
The Financial Times ran an article on Wednesday by Farouk Soussa, Citigroup’s Chief Economist for the Middle East. While we're all used to hearing the statistics and projections, Mr Soussa gave us a more engaging metaphor for Iraq's potentially prosperous future: “Beneath the unsettled surface, Iraq is an economic giant, slowly but surely awakening after […]
Belgian Dredger Arrives at Umm Qasr
A Belgian dredger has arrived at Umm Qasr on Wednesday to work on increasing the depth of the shipping channel. The vessel is the 18,620 tonne trailing suction hopper dredger, the 'Francis Beaufort'. It is 142m in length, and has a maximum dredging depth of 71.5m. The report from AKnews says the project was facilitated […]
500 New Power Transformers for Maysan
The Iraqi government has purchased 500 power transformers from its Industry Ministry to upgrade the electricity supply in the Maysan province. “The total cost of the deal is around $4.4 million [5.3 billion Iraqi dinars],” the ministry said in a statement of Wednesday, according to Aswat al-Iraq news agency. It explained that according to the […]