By John Lee. Baghdad's Palestine Hotel, famous for housing foreign journalists during the US-led invasion of Iraq, has since undergone a makeover. Hotel manager Fadhel Salman Hassan told AFP: "We are a five-star establishment ... We have 405 rooms, three bars [and] by order of the minister of electricity, the power never cuts." The hotel […]
Tag Archives | Baghdad
The latest news from Baghdad – security updates, business, construction projects and more – brought to you by Iraq Business News
Sunni Endowment Official Arrested for Bribery
By John Lee. A team from Iraq's Commission on Integrity (CoI) has arrested an official of the Sunni Endowment for taking bribes to from investors in return for the use of a property owned by the Endowment. The official is accused of taking a bribe of $250,000 in return for the use of the Sara […]
Grand Ishtar Hotel in Baghdad Reopens
Cristal Group, a premier luxury hospitality company in the Middle East, announced the opening of the landmark Ishtar Hotel on Monday, now renamed the Cristal Grand Ishtar Hotel. One of the tallest buildings in Baghdad, Iraq, the 20-storey property features 307 rooms and suites, comprising of 92 Standard king rooms, 111 Standard twin rooms, 62 […]
Iraq Opens $219m Power Plant
By John Lee. Iraq's deputy prime minister for energy affairs, Hussein al-Shahristani, has opened a new gas-powered electricity plant in southern Baghdad. The plant has four 125-megawatt generators and cost $219 million to build, he said. Iraq Business News understands that the plant was constructed by the Korean company Hyundai. (Source: Al-Shorfa)
Baghdad Free Zone Approved
By John Lee. Iraq’s Free Zone Authority (FZA), an independent authority under the Ministry of Finance, has signed an agreement with the City Centre for Vehicles Services Company to approve a new free zone in Baghdad. The Director General of the Authority, Sabah Salih al-Qaisi (pictured), said the new free zone would be in the Awiridj […]
Iraq Approves Private Free-Zone near Baghdad
By John Lee. Mawtani reports that the Iraqi government has approved the construction of a private free-trade zone south of Baghdad. Sabah al-Qaisi (pictured), the chairman of the Ministry of Finance's General Commission for Free Zones, told Mawtani: "[The Ministry of Finance's General Commission for Free Zones] approved two requests submitted by a group of local […]
Iraq Completes $146m Baghdad Water Scheme
By John Lee. Iraq has completed a new $146-million project to supply drinking water to much of Baghdad's population. Saleh al-Mutlaq (pictured), deputy prime minister for service affairs, told Al-Shorfa: "The ministry of municipalities opened the Abu Ghraib Great Water Project ... It will provide drinking water to houses through modern networks, and will cover […]
Baghdad PC to Build 4 Housing Complexes in 2013
By John Lee. Baghdad Provincial Council and the National Investment Commission (NIC) plan to build four new housing complexes in Baghdad by 2013. Intended for people on low income, the houses will be built in the districts of Rashid, Dihna, Basmaya and Mahmudiya. Bushra Abdul Amir, Deputy Chairman of the Administrative Committee at Baghdad PC, […]
UK Boosts Diplomatic Presence in Baghdad, Erbil
By John Lee. As part of a review of the United Kingdom's diplomatic engagement with Iraq, which included the announcement today that the country's consulate in Basra is to close, the UK’s Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, William Hague (pictured), has announced increased resources for the embassy in Baghdad and the consulate […]
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Kurdistan Takes Next Step Towards Oil Agreement With The Central Government
A new age is dawning over oil in Iraq, as this week sees several important steps made towards agreement between two powerful political centers. Kurdistan, the semi-autonomous territory in Iraq, has agreed to keep exports steady at 140,000bpd and then raise them to 200,000bpd by the end of the year, according to Reuters. We wrote this […]
Baghdad and Erbil Reach Agreement On Oil
The central government of Iraq has agreed to pay the oil companies operating in Kurdistan, the northern, semi-autonomous region of Iraq, and to raise oil production to 200,000 barrels per day. The official Iraqiya TV station announced on Thursday that "A meeting was held between the two Governments to settle the pending issues between both […]
$400m Housing In Baghdad
More housing is to be built in Baghdad, as two deals for 2,000 homes apiece were signed for a total of USD365m. Kar Construction & Engineering will build 2,016 homes in the north of Baghdad over four years, after signing a contract for $185m, according to Shaker al-Zamili, president of the Baghdad Investment Committee announced today. […]