By John Lee. The Companies Registration Department of Iraq's Ministry of Trade said it has successfully processed the establishment of 324 national companies and registered 27 branches of foreign companies in June. According to a statement from the Ministry's media office, Director General Rashad Khalaf Hashim reported multiple decisions made during the month related to […]
By John Lee. Food and last-mile delivery service Alsaree3 has announced that it has successfully closed its 'Series A' capital raising round, securing an undisclosed seven-figure investment. A press release describes this funding round as particularly noteworthy due to the participation of Snoonu, which it says is Qatar's leading food delivery and e-commerce platform. It […]
Five One Labs Launches New Business Support Program in Iraq in Partnership with the World Bank Group The World Bank Group and Five One Labs, an international startup incubator with operations in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, are partnering to spearhead initiatives supporting forcibly displaced related startups and micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in […]
By John Lee. The winners have been announced in the International Trade Centre (ITC)'s Agriculture Innovation Hackathon, held recently in Nineveh province. According to the organisers, Nineveh-based SMEs Nabu, BSF and Aero Plant stood out with their exceptional ideas for addressing the significant challenges of water scarcity and sustainable agriculture due to decreasing water levels […]
By John Lee. The European Union Mission in Baghdad has held a conference focused on empowering youth and supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs). According to a statement from the Ministry of Trade's media office, the conference saw broad participation from Iraqi youth, including students, entrepreneurs, and activists. The statement highlighted the Ministry of Trade's […]
By John Lee. Iraq's General Directorate for Industrial Development (GDID) has launched a new loan mechanism for small, medium, and micro enterprises (MSMEs). The loans are made in conjunction with the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI), and can be worth up to 20 million Iraqi dinars ($15,000) per loan. Dr. Ali Ibrahim Janaan, Director General […]
By John Lee. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the German international development agency, has issued a press release outlining the success of its support for the 'Makers of Baghdad' innovation centres. Between 2019 and 2023, 1,236 Iraqis took part in business training and programming courses at the tech hubs. Subsequently, 221 of them […]
From Five One Invest. Re-published with permission by Iraq Business News. Over the past few years, Five One Invest has worked closely with Iraqi founders and investors. The major complaint from growth-stage startups is that investors in Iraq are risk-averse and do not know "venture investing." On the other hand, investors emphasize that there is […]
By John Lee. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), Iraq Venture Partners (IVP), and Innovest Middle East have created a new initiative that aims to address the challenges faced by entrepreneurs in Iraq. A statement from IFC said the new program, "Scale Iraq (#ScaleIraq)", will support 20 startups, addressing their specific needs and gaps, esigning and […]
By John Lee. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Government of Germany, through the KfW Development Bank, have launched the sixth phase of their ongoing partnership, aiming to create 1,100 new jobs in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Iraq, via its Enterprise Development Fund (EDF) component. The program provides financial capital to […]
By Aziz Al Nassiri. This document explains the Iraqi University Ecosystem (IUE) project Introduction: The business environment in Iraq is one of the most challenging in the region. Instability, lawlessness, corruption, absence of development plans, flight of capital, brain drain, diminution of the middle class, rentier economy, rapid population growth, global warming, Fourth Industrial Revolution. […]
The ILO, the Central Bank of Iraq and partners celebrate success of the financial Inclusion Initiative for MSMEs under the PROSPECTS Programme [EN/AR] Hundreds of loans have been disbursed to aspiring entrepreneurs and existing MSMEs through the project, contributing to the creation and retention of more than 1,200 job opportunities for Iraqi host communities and […]
