By John Lee. Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) announced that it has reached advanced stages of understanding with America's ExxonMobil to secure storage capacity in Singapore, alongside negotiations on refining and profit-sharing opportunities in the Asian market. SOMO Director General, Ali Nizar Al-Shatri (pictured), told state-owned Iraqi News Agency (INA) that the company is […]
By John Lee. Prime Minister Mohammed S. Al-Sudani has inaugurated the first phase of the 'Eduba' Project, targeting the construction of 600 schools across Iraq. Funded through the Iraq Development Fund, the initiative will be executed by private sector firms, following comprehensive technical and preparatory work. Global consulting firm Meinhardt and Yerim Contracting, one of […]
By John Lee. Singapore-based Pacific International Lines (PIL) is launching a new weekly feeder service between Jebel Ali in UAE and Umm Qasr in Iraq, with the aim of strengthening its coverage and connectivity in the Middle East. Known as the Iraq Feeder Service (IQF), the company says the new route will complement PIL's flagship […]
By John Lee. The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) said on Wednesday that it plans to allow trade from China to be settled directly in yuan, in a renewed attempt to stabilise the value of the Iraqi dinar. In a statement, it said foreign trade financing will be conducted through direct channels in China using […]
By John Lee. Singaporean/Swiss-based commodity trader Trafigura has reportedly ended its relationship with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). According to a report from Bloomberg, the decision follows the KRG's refusal to renegotiate the terms of the contract, following a drop in the price of Kurdish oil. KRG Minister Masrour Barzani is also said to have […]
By John Lee. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has made one arrest, and issued a further two arrest warrants, following an investigation into alleged improper payments made by Singapore-registered Leighton Offshore Pty Ltd, regarding two contracts with Iraq Crude Oil Export in 2010 and 2011. The Sydney Morning Herald names the arrested suspect as Russell […]
By John Lee. Iraq has been ranked 172nd out of 190 countries in the World Bank‘s recent Doing Business 2020 report, down from 171st place the previous year. Top of the list were New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong, with last place going to Somalia, just behind Eritrea and Venezuela. Iran ranked 127th, with Libya […]
By John Lee. Iraq has been ranked 171st out of 190 countries in the World Bank‘s recent Doing Business 2019 report, down from 168th place the previous year. Top of the list were New Zealand, Singapore and Denmark, with last place going to Somalia, just behind Eritrea and Venezuela. Iran ranked 128th, with Libya 186th. Doing […]
By John Lee. Iraq has been ranked 168th out of 190 countries in the World Bank‘s recent Doing Business 2018 report, down from 165th place the previous year. Despite the fall in the rankings, the report notes that over the previous year Iraq simplified the process of starting a business by combining multiple registration procedures […]
By John Lee. Iraq has been rated third-last in a ranking of the 'passport power' of 199 countries around the world. The list, compiled by passportindex.org, ranked passports by their ability to allow persons to travel visa-free to other destinations. Top of the list was Germany, followed by Sweden and Singapore, while Iraq comes in […]
By John Lee. Singapore-based Electro-Voice has supplied the sound system for the recently opened Karbala Olympic Stadium in Iraq. According to Entertainment Technology Press, audio for the project was provided by Baghdad-based APCO Electronics, which chose a sound system from Electro-Voice, including a multi-zone digital audio system, horn-loaded loudspeakers, amplifiers, microphones and wireless systems. The […]
By Simon Kent. There is growing speculation over a planned energy initiative between Iraq and China, with both Iraqi PM Haider al Abadi and oil minister Adel Abdul Mahdi travelling to China for "deep discussions" on the proposal. According to The Wall Street Journal, Unipec, the trading branch of Chinese state refiner Sinopec, will be working with […]
