Urgent AMAR Appeal for Widows and Orphans
For hundreds of millions of families around the world, the recent Eid celebrations were a time for family, friends, joy and celebration. A time of prayer, exchanging gifts, embracing the wider community and extending to others their religious generosity. But for millions more, particularly widows and children, there could be no celebration as they continued […]
Population Growth in Iraq raises Concerns
By Adnan Abu Zeed for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. British Ambassador Jonathan Wilks warned at a press conference last month that, at its current rate of growth, Iraq's population would increase by a million people per year. Iraq's Central […]
Air Arabia launches fourth Iraqi Destination
Air Arabia, the Middle East and North Africa’s first and largest low-cost carrier (LCC), has announced the launch of non-stop service to the city of Sulaymaniyah in the north of Iraq. The new service from the carrier’s primary hub in Sharjah marks Air Arabia’s fourth destination in Iraq and 152 worldwide. From November 6, 2018, […]
Iraq to buy 90,000 tons of US Rice
By John Lee. Iraq has agreed to buy 90,000 metric tons of rice from the United States. US Congressman Ralph Abraham, M.D., R-Alto, a member of the House Agriculture Committee, said in a statement: “Iraq is buying three times more rice than we requested in our letter, so I’m thrilled that this resulted in such […]
Tourism in Kurdistan Region hits Record High
The number of tourists visiting the Kurdistan Region this year reached a record high, according to Mr. Mawlawi Jabar, Chairman of the General Board of Tourism. In an interview with the Kurdistan Regional Government website, Mr. Jabar noted: "In the first six months of 2018, 1.3 million tourists visited the Kurdistan Region, mostly from central […]
Electricity Generation in Iraq -- Problems and Solutions
The Al-Bayan Center for Planning and Studies has just published a new report by Hayder al-Khafaji on electricity generation in Iraq: Meeting energy needs in a manner that achieves security for Iraq has become a major source of concern for the electricity sector in the country; with the industry claiming that it lacks the capacity to […]
A New Chapter in Iraq?
After five months of political uncertainty, Iraq finally has a new prime minister. On October 3, Iraq’s newly named president, Barham Salih, picked Adel Abdul Mahdi, an independent Shia politician, to be the next prime minister and form a government. The appointment of Mahdi may have provided an opportunity to calm the protests that have […]
GardaWorld Weekly Security Report
GardaWorld, a global leader in comprehensive security and risk management, has made its weekly security report available to Iraq Business News readers. Prepared by GardaWorld's Risk Analysis Team in Iraq, this essential report includes short- and medium-term outlooks on the security situation, reports and commentary on recent significant events, and a detailed overview of developments […]
Iran "ready to establish Joint Bank with Iraq"
By John Lee. Iran's private banks have reportedly laid the groundwork for setting up a joint bank with their counterparts in Iraq. Yahya Al-e Es'haq [Yahya Ale-Ishaq] (pictured), head of Iran-Iraq Chamber of Commerce, is quoted as saying that the bank would operate under the regulations of central banks of the two countries to facilitate […]
12 Projects to Improve Essential Services in Iraq
The Federal Republic of Germany, UNDP’s Iraq Crisis Response and Resilience Programme (ICRRP), along with the administrative authorities of Halabja and Sulaimaniyah Governorates and Garmiyan and Raparin Administrations today initiated 12 projects to improve essential services for an estimated 680,000 people. The projects target critical needs in the electricity, water, roads, and sewerage sectors and […]
Turkey to supply more Water to Iraq
By John Lee. Turkey has announced that it will increase water supplies to Iraq to compensate for a drop in supply from Iran. According to Abu Dhabi-based The National, Iran has said it will cut water supplies to Iraq to prioritise projects within Iran. Turkey depends on water from the Tigris to fill a reservoir […]
Oil Production to Start at Block 10 in 2021
By John Lee. Russia's Lukoil will start production at Block 10 in 2021, according to a report from Platts. The Chinese company Bohai has started to drill the 4th well at the block in southern Iraq. In February 2017 Lukoil announced Iraq's largest discovery of oil for twenty years at the Eridu field in Block 10, […]