Thread: Archive News - Iraqi Dinar Think Tank - 24/01/201 - 23/07/2011

Zain regretted the decision to cut off service Asiacell Contact

Zain Iraq regrets the decision of the Asia-Cell to take the position that would affect millions of citizens and participants of the Iraqis who are without the service of their contact with loved ones and their friends throughout Iraq. And perhaps not appropriate at present to comment on the pending case due to Zain Iraq dropped its complaints to the formal judicial decisions of the Telecommunications, Media and fines imposed recently.

We are also in the process of holding discussions with Asia torrent on this issue.

According to the signed agreements and international practice recognized, we are confident our position legal for us to hope to solve this issue amicably in the near future so that subscribers of both companies reconnect with each other properly. Here, Zain confirms its commitment to maintaining a high level of sound relations with the communications, media and other mobile phone companies.

http://translate.googleusercontent.c...KrR4h7w-iLX_Zg

Economist: revenue telecom sector after oil

Returned the House resolution to form a parliamentary committee to investigate irregularities and the performance of mobile phone companies and the reality of telecommunications services in Iraq to appear again on the media scene, especially with the detection of the Communications and Media announced the launch of Zain five million slice of unlicensed what led to the fined and stop slicing at hand.

Addressed the media led recent problems with mobile phone companies in Iraq and the reality of telecommunications services after increasing dissatisfaction with the beneficiaries of the services of these companies as they do not meet their aspirations, as well as many of the irregularities that accompanied the work of these companies prompting the Council of Representatives formed a committee to investigate this financial irregularities and substantive.

http://translate.googleusercontent.c...RwnmkVEkqio6MA

Energy Conference in Houston, sheds light on the situation in Iraq's oil

Said Ambassador Richard Morning Star in the U.S. State Department on Saturday, said the Energy Conference held in Houston, U.S. fourth day was devoted to highlight the situation in Iraq's oil.

Morning Star said in a press statement, "It is noted that Iraq has set ambitious goals for the future of oil and gas production, but the attainment of these objectives requires monitoring the billions of dollars of investments and a lot of human resources."

He added: "Of course Iraq is still facing many challenges, but there have been steps forward in political and economic fields, and in the past two weeks, have returned the export of oil, for the first time, to the level it was before the war," stressing that "Iraq needs to rebuild and rehabilitate a huge amount of infrastructure, pipes, terminals Aldhakp, ports."

http://www.radiodijla.com/cgi-bin/ne...?id=2011-03-12

MP rejects proposal to summon President Talabani for his recent statement about Kirkuk

A Legislature from the National Coalition, led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, has rejected the proposal to “summon” Iraqi President jalal Talabani for his recent statement about north Iraq’s Province of Kirkuk.

“Collecting signatures by some Members of Parliament to summon President Talabani is an incorrect measure, because the idea to summon the President by the Parliament shall undermine the current political understanding, as Kirkuk is an Iraqi province for all Iraqis and President Talabani’s statements won’t change this fact,” Khalid al-Assadi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency on Sunday.

Assadi described President Talabani’s statement about Kirkuk “as a serious and wrong issue; but we don’t support the idea to summon the President (by the Parliament), suggesting on everybody to face that statement with opposite statements.”

President Jalal Talabani had said in a speech last week, on the occasion of the anniversary of the Kurdish uprising in Sulaimaniya city against Iraq’s former ruling Baath regime in 1991, that Kirkuk is “Kurdistan’s Jerusalem,” calling on the Kurds in the Province to conclude a Kurdish-Tukroman Coalition to liberate it from what he described as “terrorists and neo-occupiers.”

http://en.aswataliraq.info/Default1....&id=141429&l=1

CBI sells $156m as week begins

The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) opened its auction this week Sunday with sales up to $156.042 million, compared to the previous session’s $165.254 million, at an exchange rate of 1170 Iraqi dinars per dollar.

"The demand hit $330,000 in cash, covered at an exchange rate of 1,183 Iraqi dinars per dollar, and $155.712 million in foreign transfers outside the country, covered at an exchange rate of 1,183 Iraqi dinars per dollar," according to a CBI news bulletin received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

http://en.aswataliraq.info/Default1....&id=141440&l=1

Economist: Telecommunications Market in Iraq to accommodate more than a new license in order to upgrade and improve its services

called an economist who specializes in the field of communications have to put up more than a new license for mobile phone in Iraq to the need of the Iraqi market to, and also to increase the proportion of competition between different companies will result in better services to the citizens.

He said the expert, who requested anonymity, told the independent press (Iba) that the status of the telecommunications market in Iraq today, need to ask more than a license for telecommunications companies with the growing proportion of mobile phone usage by a large margin, and the possibility of absorption of the Iraqi market for companies new competition, pointing out that many countries the region where there are more than three companies and a population not exceeding quarter of the population of Iraq.

Referring to the increasing incidence of complaining of poor services offered by mobile phone companies that monopolize the work in Iraq now, and the various arguments put forward to justify such as jamming of the peg, which has become poor services is not persuasive.

On the announcement by the Minister of Communications announced the launch of the license-fourth the end of this year, said the expert of the Ministry of Communications has a huge network of communications towers, and infrastructure used by mobile phone companies currently provide services not to mention the availability of professional staff in the Ministry of technicians and administrators who has the ability to work with the company World which will be chosen to be the partner of the Ministry of Communications in the fourth license.

It is scheduled to put the license on the fourth international companies to enter as a partner with the Ministry of Communications and rates are agreed at this company to take over the management of the business and the market daily to apply the successful plans in other countries and avoid the red tape in the public sector.

The expert stressed that the Iraqi market, the focus of many mobile phone companies, so that the other foot on the lips of officials at the Ministry of Communications requests to enter the Iraqi market, such as Verizon and Turok torrent MTN Communications.

And that such a project will provide financial and Ward could be up to a billion and half dollars, the amount of the license, as well as the steady supplier of turnout for the Iraqi government and to cover the expenses of hundreds of staff and the Ministry of Communications who Itgulwn treasury ministry salaries.

http://www.ipairaq.com/index.php?nam...onomy&id=36296

Postpone the vote on the budget next Thursday to Baghdad

postponed the Baghdad Provincial Council after more than five hours of trading Sunday to vote on the budget for the capital to next Thursday because of the objections of some council members on the plan put forward by the province for the year 2011.

The head of the Baghdad Provincial Council full-Zaidi said that "Baghdad has prepared an ambitious plan for 2011 projects include new and ongoing," adding that "today was the first reading of the plan of conservation projects, but members of the Council was to have any observations on the plan."

Zaidi was speaking during a press conference held after the completion of the meeting of the Council headquarters in Baghdad and attended by the correspondent of the News Agency of Kurdistan (Rn).

"The approval of the plan, the doors were present but there were proposals for redeployment and the abolition of some of the doors and moved to the gates of the most important," noting that "the Council and the province of Baghdad are keen to come up with an ambitious plan."

"It is possible to resolve the matter through a vote but the Council back to settle such matters by consensus and in order to complete the plan as required postponed the second reading on Thursday and will be the final hearing to approve the budget of Baghdad," said Zaidi.

He said Zaidi "would be two days for the next couple of private deliberation and listen to the opinion of the heads of the committees that she wanted the amendment to some of the money allocated through the plan."

In turn, the governor of Baghdad, Salah Abdul-Razzaq in his speech during the conference that "this plan does not meet the ambition is that we want him as the Ministry of Finance reduced the budget for the third year," noting that "we aspire to get to a trillion (BD) has been reduced to the amount before now ".

And Abdel-Razzaq, "The allocation of 617.5 billion dinars to Baghdad, a record modest size and position and amplitude of population of the province of Baghdad, as well as the service-straining during the last period due to the security situation," stressing that "This plan needs more than that."

The Iraqi Democratic lawmaker has endorsed the general budget last February of $ 82.6 billion.

The province of Baghdad had been distributed the budget allocated to them, which amounted to 617.5 on the ongoing projects which have been allocated 135 billion dinars, and new projects which have been allocated 282 billion and projects of the Secretariat 200 billion.

http://www.aknews.com/ar/aknews/2/224917/

Iraq to make Arabian Travel Market debut
Iraqi travel sector set for major growth as business and religious tourism increases amid renewed billion dollar infrastructure investment and expanding air links

Arabian Travel Market, the leading travel exhibition in the Middle East, welcomes representatives from the Iraqi travel sector to the show in Dubai for the first time this May.

The Iraq tourism board/ Al Rafidain Company for travel and tourism, has confirmed 100 square metres of exhibition space and is poised to revive its travel and tourism sector. This development is bolstered by its recent nomination as a tourism hotspot of the future in the recent WTM Global Trends Report, compiled in association with Euromonitor.

The country is seeing significant renewed investment worth billions of dollars in tourism infrastructure, while increasing air links have helped fuel business travel to the country. According to Euromonitor, business tourism to Iraq rose by 58% in 2009, and both regional and European airlines have begun new services to airports throughout Iraq to capitalise on this demand.

According to Mark Walsh, Group Exhibition Director, Reed Travel Exhibitions, the opportunity for involvement in the country's economic revival has excited investors. Combined with strong demand from the religious tourism sector, this has prompted hotel developers to move into Iraq.

"There were more than 1.3 million visitor arrivals during 2009, and while religious tourists from Iran accounted for 75% of these, the potential to increase these figures is vast given a projected GDP growth of 7% annually along with projects such as a new oil export terminal in Basra and a new port facility at Umm Qasr," he said.

"With a projected investment in the hospitality sector in Iraq expected to amount to billions of dollars, Iraq travel representatives have an opportunity to inform the international and regional travel trade about opportunities for inbound and even outbound travel, looking ahead."

Airline activity has also been boosted significantly in recent times. Emirates has added Basra to its destinations, as have Etihad and Qatar Airways. Flydubai now travels to Gassim and Erbil, while Air Arabia has added Najaf. Gulf Air has also added Basra to its flight schedule, making four flights per week from Manama to Basra, its fourth Iraqi city.

Internationally there is also growth from carriers, including Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa and other European airlines, while a number of carriers in the Middle East and North Africa are also adding Iraq destinations or increasing frequency of existing routes, including Nile Air, Turkish airlines and Iraqi Airlines.

On the hotel front, Rotana has led the way, opening the first international five-star property in Erbil, Iraq in December last year, with Rotana Baghdad opening in early 2012.

In addition, Range Hospitality has announced the 624-suite Al Rawdatain Gardens development at Karbala catering for religious tourists, but most international focus has been on Kurdistan where leisure tourism is already taking off.

Around 20 four- and five-star hotels are under construction in Erbil, with the Divan Erbil Park and Le Royal Erbil Park among those expected to open this year, while Millennium & Copthorne is already recruiting for its Millennium Erbil property and has announced plans for up to five hotels in Iraq.

More immediately, the Iraq government has announced a US$300 million budget to renovate six major Baghdad hotels prior to the postponed 2011 Arab Summit, which is now scheduled to take place in the Iraqi capital in May.

In addition IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, announced recently a landmark $400 million, seven-year debt facility for Zain Iraq, the country's largest mobile phone operator.

Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai and approaching its eighteenth year, Arabian Travel Market has grown to become the largest showcase of its kind in the region and one of the biggest in the world. Last year 2,236 exhibitors covering over 20,000 square metres, attracted more than 22,000 attendees.

http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidZA...Market%20debut

Iraq’s President can be summoned by Parliament if he violated constitution, Kurdish MP says

The Legislature from the Kurdistan Coalition, Mahmoud Othman, has said on Sunday that the Iraqi President could be “summoned” by the Parliament if he had violated the Constitution, saying that President Jalal Talabani’s statement about Kirkuk “wasn’t a violation of the Constitution.”

“President Jalal Talabani can be summoned by the Parliament if he violated the Constitution,” Othman told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, saying “that when Talabani said that Kirkuk was the ‘heart of Kurdistan,’ he expressed his viewpoint, being the chairman of a party..So, there is no need to gather signatures to summon him by the Parliament.”

The Legislature for al-Iraqiya Coalition, Wihda al-Jumeily, had said on Saturday that a number of Parliament members had began collecting signatures to summon President Jalal Talabani by the Parliament, in the background of his statement that described Kirkuk as “Kurdistan’s Jerusalem.”

Othman, on his part, said: “the statement of the President towards Kirkuk had been entirely natural, as firstly, he was speaking in a festival of his party, being the Chairman of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the party that had always described Kirkuk as the “Jerusalem of the Kurds.”

“Even the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), repeats that Kirkuk is the “Heart of the Kurds,” Othman said, adding that “each party has its own mottos, being natural issues and not constitutional violations.”

President Jalal Talabani had said in a speech on the occasion of the anniversary of the Kurdish 1991 uprising in Sulaimaniya city against Iraq’s former ruling Baath regime, that Kirkuk was the “Jerusalem of Kurdistan,” calling on the Kurds to conclude a strategic Kurdish-Turkoman Coalition, to liberate the city from what he described as “terrorists and neo-occupiers.”

http://en.aswataliraq.info/Default1....&id=141430&l=1

MPs collecting signatures to question Talabani
Several members of parliament already embarked on a signature-collecting campaign to question Iraqi President Jalal Talabani over his recent statements in which he termed Kirkuk as "the Jerusalem of Kurdistan," a legislator from al-Iraqiya bloc said on Saturday.

"Talabani's remarks considering the Arabs as occupiers of Kirkuk and that the city is the Jerusalem of Kurdistan are totally rejected.
He wanted to contain the Kurdish street's anger but on the other hand he angered all the Iraqi people," Wihda al-Djemeili told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

"A number of lawmakers are collecting signatures to question the Iraqi president and hear his justifications over his irresponsible statements," she said.

Talabani, speaking in the northern Iraq Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya last week on the occasion marking the 10th anniversary of the 1991 uprising against the former regime of Saddam Hussein, termed Kirkuk as "Kurdistan's Jerusalem," calling on the Kurds in the province to form a "strategic Kurdish-Turkmen alliance to liberate it from terrorists and neo-occupiers."

"The thing that unites the Kurdish people the most is the talk about Kirkuk and that is why Jalal Talabani played that chord," Djemeili noted.

Last week, she had commented on Talabani's statements and described them as "serious."

"The oil-rich province of Kirkuk is the Kurds' promised land and old dream. Perhaps President Talabani's statements were an attempt to ease the anger of the people in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, which has been witnessing mass demonstrations," Djemeili had told Aswat al-Iraq.

Djemeili noted that Talabani does not represent a certain group or party but he is the president of the republic of Iraq.

"The Kurds' inclination to get Kirkuk and annex it to the Iraqi Kurdistan Region is immense. They can do that because they have a strategic vision," she said.

She pointed out that the Turkmen powers "would not be able to face up to the Kurds on the grounds that the Turkmen do not have the funds, security forces or human resources owned by the Kurds."

The oil-rich Kirkuk, a city of mixed Kurdish, Turkmen and Arab population, 250 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, is one of the most disputed areas by the Kurdistan regional government and the Iraqi government in Baghdad. The Kurds are seeking to integrate the province into the semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan Region claiming it to be a historically Kurdish city. Kurds have a strong cultural and emotional attachment to Kirkuk, which they call "the Kurdish Jerusalem." Kurds see it as the rightful and perfect capital of an autonomous Kurdistan state.

Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution is related to the normalization of the situation in Kirkuk city and other disputed areas through having back its Kurdish inhabitants and repatriating the Arabs relocated in the city during the former regime's time to their original provinces in central and southern Iraq. The article also calls for conducting a census to be followed by a referendum to let the inhabitants decide whether they would like Kirkuk to be annexed to the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region or having it as an independent province. The former regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had forced over 250,000 Kurdish residents to give up their homes to Arabs in the 1970s, to "Arabize" the city and the region's oil industry.

http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidZA...ion%20Talabani