Thread: Iraq/Dinar News. before Febuary 2nd 2006

Originally Posted by shotgunsusie

and read where these numbers dont reflect fuel and transport figured in. that would make it over 100% most likely.

So appearantly raising interest rates to fight inflation has worked really well in Iraq

RV the darn thing already!

ÇáÍßæãÉ ÇáÚÑÇÞíÉ
The name of God the Merciful
The Republic of Iraq
Prime minister
Media Bureau

Friday, January 26, 2007
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki receives Oil Minister, Dr. Hussein Shahrastani

Prime Minister Nuri Kamel al-Maliki in his office in Baghdad today, the official Oil Minister, Dr. Hussein Shahrastani, and discussed with him ways to resolve the crisis and oil derivatives as soon as possible, as was discussed in the process of speeding up the building of refineries and fuel purification stations and increase the production capacity of oil.

The Republic of Iraq
Council of Ministers-the governmental communications
Media Relations
A press statement / Press Release
Sunday 1-28-2007

Italy pledges financial grant to Iraq at 400 million euros and the countries sign a treaty of friendship, partnership and cooperation

The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iraq, Hoshyar Zebari with his Massimo D'Alema Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Italian Treaty The friendship and partnership and cooperation. The signing of the treaty after the talks and negotiations between The two countries, an expression of the will of participating in the strengthening of friendship and comprehensive cooperation Stressing the determination of the two countries to make the Treaty ideal framework for the development of new areas Cooperation, understanding, and so on the basis of mutual interest and to the prosperity Peoples .

It was a declaration of commitment Government of the Italian Republic by providing an amount of up 400 million euros to help standby credits in the three years following the entry The treaty into force . In order to achieve the political objectives of the Treaty and the International Cooperation and Development Social, economic and support democracy-building and understanding among cultures and civilizations The protection of Iraqi cultural heritage .
ÇáÍßæãÉ ÇáÚÑÇÞíÉ

The Republic of Iraq
Council of Ministers-the governmental communications
Media Relations
Press Release /A press statement
Sunday 1-28-2007

The Ministry of Labor announced the formation of committees in the central provinces of the Department of microcredit

The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs for the formation of committees in the central provinces of project management for the establishment of lending small projects.
A source in the ministry said the ministry identified the heads and members of these committees in all governorates, and will be the task of these committees to follow up and oversee all the work of the Sub-Commission in each province will also consider and approve projects in final form in terms of acceptance of the project and the amount of the loan, according to regulations and instructions related to this Central Committee, several subcommittees as the organization and reception, and the economic feasibility, and the Education Committee, and follow-up field.
It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs will implement this project during the current year 2007 as an effective means to help the unemployed segment of the people who had registered at the Employment and Vocational Training of the Ministry.
جميعالمحافظات قال المصدر نفسه :( سيتم توزيع المشاريع على وعن آليات توزيع أعداد المشاريع على محافظة الأمر الذي سيوفر لدينا إحصائية معلومة عنمحافظات العراق باعتماد نسبة عدد السكان في كل المشاريع الواجب تنفيذها في كل محافظة) .
The ministry's plan for the implementation of this project approximately one hundred thousand small income-generating through this year and this step will convert about (250-300) thousand out of work covered by subsidies from the network of social protection to the productive elements earn their efforts rather than disrupt professional energies and self subvention grant amounts.
The loan amounts Limits (10) million dinars to be paid by borrowers over the (15) years with a grace period of up to two years.
It has been agreed with the Ministry of Finance and Industrial Bank of the lending process and safeguards will be developed to recover the amount during the period, according to the limited safeguards prescribed by the Industrial Bank.

Iraq Struggles to Finish Oil Law
Forging an Agreement Requires Balancing Sharply Divided Interests, Ethnic Groups
29 January 2007 (The Washington Post)

Four months ago, about 80 oil company executives and consultants packed an office on St. James's Square in London for a briefing on exploration prospects in Iraq's Kurdish region and a Kurdish draft of an Iraqi national petroleum law.

Despite the immense risks of working in Iraq -- pipeline explosions, kidnappings, insurgency, political infighting -- the oil company executives were lured by the potential rewards, which are immense, too. Outside Saudi Arabia, no country has proven oil reserves as big as Iraq's. And the oil there is high quality, easy and cheap to produce, and bottled up in reservoirs that many major oil companies were familiar with three decades ago before wars and sanctions drove them out.

"Exxon Mobil has more seismic data on Iraq than on Houston real estate," says Fadel Gheit, an oil analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. who used to work for Mobil. "If Exxon had security on the ground, the following day it would have crews there," Gheit said. "And money would be no object."

Gheit estimated that Iraq could easily produce 6 million barrels a day, more than three times its current output and enough to help keep a lid on world prices.

Four months after the London meeting, however, security remains elusive and so does the national petroleum law. Barham Saleh, Iraq's deputy prime minister, said in a recent telephone interview that a compromise was "very, very close."

The proposed law has taken on significance beyond oil. While Iraq and foreign oil companies are eager to tap new revenue, the Bush administration and many Iraqis also hope that the law can be a model for resolving disputes and can bind Iraq's warring factions together.

Agreement has been reached on sharing oil revenue on a per-capita basis, a benefit for Sunnis who live mostly in areas with less production. A deal also has been struck that recognizes the power of regional authorities, such as the Kurdish Regional Government, to award oil contracts, but establishes a national petroleum commission with the power to review contracts within 60 days. A "revamped" national oil company would continue to manage existing production while new regional affiliates would participate in new exploration and production.

"We need to close the deal on one or two small issues," Saleh said. "A number of the major issues have been resolved."

But an adviser to the Kurdish authorities said those "small issues" included some significant details. On Friday, the Kurdistan Regional Government posted an item on its Web site denying news reports that a deal was complete. The "important annexes to the law are still pending," it said.

Outstanding issues include how much oil revenue will go to the central government; a charter for the new national oil company; the role of the oil ministry; and the principles upon which the new commission could reject regionally negotiated contracts. Also unsettled is whether the commission will require a simple majority vote or a two-thirds vote to reject a contract's terms. Those provisions must all be part of one package with the petroleum law, Kurdish leaders said.

If the Shia-dominated Iraqi central government spends heavily on its own projects, it could deny the Kurds and other regional authorities significant shares of oil revenue.

Even if negotiators agree on a draft, it must win approval from Iraq's cabinet and fractious parliament, which hasn't met in weeks.
The United States has been pressing Iraq to complete the law. "As awful as the Saddam Hussein government was, it did have a record of dealing with foreign investors that wasn't that bad," said James A. Placke, an expert at Cambridge Energy Research Associates. "That's gone and hasn't been replaced."

Now, forging a petroleum law requires a balancing of sharply divided interest and ethnic groups, not just the word of a dictator.

"This is not a regular piece of Iraqi legislation being signed off on," said Jonathan Morrow, an adviser to the Kurdistan Regional Government. If successful, he said, "it . . . might show the way forward in Iraq."

Saleh suggested that a deal might discourage attacks on oil installations and reduce corruption. "Since we all agree on revenue sharing, all elements of Iraqi society will have an interest in maximizing revenues and best business practices," he said.

For now, however, the oil sector is a mess. Since the first attack on a pipeline on June 1, 2003, it has been a struggle to keep oil flowing. Basic production equipment has been looted or destroyed. Many wells still are not working properly. And last year, the U.S. special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction complained that Iraq's oil ministry was not reporting on its budget and had spent "only a fraction" of money set aside for capital costs.

While the Bush administration once thought that Iraqi oil revenue would cover occupation and reconstruction costs, the Iraq government still relies heavily on U.S. technical and financial aid. Placke estimated that Iraq produced 1.85 million barrels a day last year, less than the year before, less than the prewar output and well below the U.S. target of 3 million barrels a day.

Placke, who was part of the Iraq Study Group, estimated that 200,000 barrels a day is siphoned from the main export line through southern Iraq, put on barges, and loaded onto tankers waiting in the Persian Gulf. What's left after discounts and bribes goes to militias or insurgent groups, he said.

In the south, some local Shia militia, clan or clerical groups are trying to claim the rights to some Iraqi fields and a voice in negotiating access for foreign companies. A stake in a billion-barrel field could be more important than a stake in the parliament or cabinet. Some experts worry that, as in Sudan, oil could contribute more to tearing the country apart than to uniting it.

A senior Iraqi government official involved in the petroleum-law talks said that if militias and clans were to cut separate deals with foreign companies, it would be a "recipe for disaster and civil war." He warned foreign companies against signing such deals. "We are very interested in credible investment in the oil sector," he said. "We cannot afford to have these cowboys running around trying to manipulate the situation in Iraq."

The national petroleum law remains a touchy subject in part because of widespread suspicion that the U.S. invasion in 2003 was motivated by designs on Iraq's oil riches.

The Iraq Study Group report contained three pages of recommendations for the sector, including suggestions that international oil companies invest in the country and the government fight corruption on contracts.

"Before embarking on controversial measures such as this law favoring foreign oil firms, the Iraqi parliament and government must prove that they are capable of protecting the country's sovereignty," Kamil Mahdi, a senior lecturer in Middle East economics at the University of Exeter in England, wrote in the Guardian newspaper. "A government that is failing to protect the lives of its citizens must not embark on controversial legislation that ties the hands of future Iraqi leaders, and which threatens to squander the Iraqis' precious, exhaustible resource in an orgy of waste, corruption and theft."

In a telephone interview, Mahdi said, "My main worry is that if I were an official in the ministry of oil negotiating a contract and living under the kind of threats that people in Iraq are daily experiencing, I would probably be in a very weak negotiating position."

While the debate continues, the Kurdistan Regional Government is pushing ahead. In 2002, at the suggestion of Jalal Talabani, the Kurdish leader who is now Iraq's president, the Turkish conglomerate Cukurova Group set up an oil unit called Genel Enerji to look for oil in Kurdistan. Genel signed a production-sharing agreement in July 2002 and took over the Taq Taq oil field in February 2003 on the eve of the U.S-led invasion. It signed another exploration contract in July 2005. A Norwegian firm, DNO, and a Canadian firm, Heritage Oil, also struck exploration and production deals in the Kurdish region.

Tariq Shafiq, a former executive of Iraq National Oil and director of the consulting firm Petrolog & Associates, has drawn up three contracts -- service, buyback and production-sharing -- that the government will use in its new petroleum law. He said the Kurdish production-sharing contracts give away too much to the foreign companies; he said that after paying for capital and operations costs, as much as 55 percent of the oil goes to the foreign firms. "These, in the eye of many, are illegal and would have to undergo review to bring them in line with this law," he said.

But Kurdish authorities said they have no intention of submitting existing contracts for review. Duran said Genel's contract was renegotiated last November and falls within the 20 percent share production that would be the ceiling under the new law. "The commercial terms of the PSA are in conformity with internationally acceptable PSA terms," Duran said in an e-mail response to questions. "Therefore, our PSA is not generous at all."

Major U.S. oil companies haven't signed any contracts in Kurdistan yet. Some of them have tried to build goodwill with the central government. Chevron, for example, helped clear mines from the coastline. Others have collected seismic data or trained Iraqi oil company technicians in Dubai.

Some major companies from other nations -- Russia's Lukoil, a Chinese state company, France's Total -- are hoping to get their big Hussein-era concessions back. Their prospects remain uncertain.

Iraq Struggles to Finish Oil Law | Iraq Updates

Originally Posted by TerryTate

Iraq Struggles to Finish Oil Law | Iraq Updates

It's wierd, that article keeps popping up with a new date on it. It's been out there for a week or more but it always has a current date.

Originally Posted by Dinar Cha Ching

It's wierd, that article keeps popping up with a new date on it. It's been out there for a week or more but it always has a current date.

It is because the reporters are all waiting inline too. They just waiting also for the New News. I can feel their fustration as well. "Another Day, how can we reword this". Dont worry, it will happen. Just away of keeping the News, No News, flowing.

Announcement No.(852)

D.G. of Foreign Exchange Control

The 852 daily currency auction was held in the Central Bank of Iraq day Monday 2007/ 1/29 so the results were as follows :

Details Notes
Number of banks 15 -----
Auction price selling dinar / US $ 1292 -----
Auction price buying dinar / US $ 1290 -----
Amount sold at auction price (US $) 97.420.000 -----
Amount purchased at Auction price (US $) 3.000.000
Total offers for buying (US $) 97.420.000 -----
Total offers for selling (US $) 3.000.000 -----

Economic Budget 2007 : from the point of view of specialists
29.01.07
Baghdad Haider spring

The whole poles economic decision that the 2007 budget, which was the largest in the history of Iraq is able to promote our service and physical required if directed allocations, according to a planned carefully and follow-up mechanisms for implementation and supervision of a high official.

With the number of specialists in the economic field for the need to speed up the adoption of the current year budget, and work on what came from allocations for the advancement of the country by residential and service in various fields.

They warned of the failures that may be due to administrative corruption stressing the importance that the government is working on the follow-up mechanisms to implement what was stated in that budget plans and urban health, education and service will be strictly to the upgrading of the Iraqi reality in a comprehensive manner.

In the meantime, the extensive discussions have taken place between members of the House and a number of specialists approval and stand on the key strengths and address the contents of the negative aspects, and had recommended a number of attendees to speed up the adoption of the budget because it contained a large investment funds benefit of Iraq to set up many vital projects which is dire need them.

Call to speed up the ratification.
He called on the Minister of Planning and Development Cooperation on Papan the House of Representatives to speed up the ratification of the budget for the current year.
He said during a discussion of the financial budget for the current year in the House of Representatives : that the ratification of the budget will reflect positively on the completion of many projects. The delay in ratification would delay the completion of those projects. Stressing that the government could, in this circumstance is difficult to develop a budget not by any previous government, which is encouraging the completion of the budget plans of all ministries during the current year if implemented carefully. Noting that the Ministry of Planning is now in the light of the slogan calling for the establishment of more investment projects and state benefits, and the priority in these projects. The Papan that some rates of achievement in the past year in some ministries were low because of the security situation facing Iraq.

For the implementation of investment projects
For his part, Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Barham Salih during discussions on the need to see Iraq through this year, the implementation of the largest possible number of projects that serve the citizens and the Iraqi economy. He pointed out that the last phase of the budget took up most of the financing aspect of security, because it represents the first priority in the lives of citizens, in addition to the financing items ration card, he said, pointing out that last year, not at the level desired by the government or the House of Representatives in terms of the implementation of projects.

And the benefit that the current budget is the largest in the history of Iraq, therefore, it must be this year overview of the implementation of investment projects that will be a factor in lifting the economy and the elimination of unemployment.

Saleh also pointed to the need to feel the improvement in the security situation citizen and service and working to find ways to Pavhamh that the government was working towards raising the standard of living for him.
Regarding the implementation of the programs and plans of the lag in the implementation of projects not in the lack of appropriate funds, but the imbalance in the administrative corruption and mechanisms wrong is the most important reasons for wasting public money and not put in its proper place.

Budget investment
Central Bank Governor Sinan Shabibi said, in turn : that the new budget is an investment budget and the size of a large investment in economic terms. He added during the budget debate this year in the House of Representatives said that the Central Bank's role is to address the imbalance resulting from the development process that will produce changes in the economic structure are basic.
Shabibi explained that the Central Bank is working on the development of a stable monetary, in addition to the bank concerned by all means and contexts that achieve economic stability and dealing with inflation.
He continued Shabibi that our budget for the preservation of resources, and this will be done by the fight against inflation, and we have a number of measures including raising the exchange rate of the dinar. He pointed out that the impact of this measure in the budget through influence in the purchasing power of the government.
He said that this policy will increase confidence in the dinar will pull some of the money to the banking sector and the rationalization of government expenditure which will limit inflation.
And that this will lead to the reduction of import prices, such as imports, the private sector and the import of the government's development comes through the transformation of the Iraqi dinar to the dollar.

While many supporters as stated in the details of the budget and the figures put forward, and call for early ratification, but it was met with objections also on some of the points that some considered vague and needed to be amended, the Virtue Party, in the words of President bloc in the parliament hinted that it is very likely that no vote his party on the current year budget of the ambiguity and lack of clarity in some of what was reported in the paragraphs.

And Hassan al-Shamri added in a press statement : There are several observations on the budget include the titles are unclear and ambiguous title of which (social benefits) contained in the budget (the presidency of the republic and the prime minister and the Ministry of Finance), as the allocations for this confusing title (in the words of al-Shamri) 5 trillion and 125 billion and 50 million Iraqi dinars.

He pointed out that this ambiguity and lack of clarity provide an opportunity for embezzlement, theft, in addition to the title (the activity of the State), which has been allocated is also significant.
The Shamari said that the budget pointed to the allocation of grants to the Kurdistan region and the failure to allocate a similar spending for the rest of the governorates and there between the figures for the numbers of sovereign sites earmarked for spending points which are prejudicing the lives of the people and their rights.
He stressed that it is necessary for members of the House of Representatives claim the reasoning behind the views of expenditure by ministries to the Ministry of Finance found in terms of the accuracy of the figures, and the priority points expenditure.

There are several observations on the budget include the titles are unclear and ambiguous title of which (social benefits) contained in the budget (the presidency of the republic and the prime minister and the Ministry of Finance), as the allocations for this confusing title (in the words of al-Shamri) 5 trillion and 125 billion and 50 million Iraqi dinars.
He pointed out that this ambiguity and lack of clarity provide an opportunity for embezzlement, theft, in addition to the title (the activity of the State), which has been allocated is also significant.

The Shamari said that the budget pointed to the allocation of grants to the Kurdistan region and the failure to allocate a similar spending for the rest of the governorates and there between the figures for the numbers of sovereign sites earmarked for spending points which are prejudicing the lives of the people and their rights.

He stressed that it is necessary for members of the House of Representatives claim the reasoning behind the views of expenditure by ministries to the Ministry of Finance found in terms of the accuracy of the figures, and the priority points expenditure.

ÌÑíÏÉ ÇáÕÈÇÍ - ãæÇÒäÉ ÚÇã 2007 ãä æÌåÉ äÙÑ ÇáãÎÊÕíä

Work on the reconstruction of Iraq’s oil infrastructure is nearing completion:

The total oil industry reconstruction program has several goals before the Corps of Engineers will be satisfied their work is complete, Fritzley said. The first goal is to increase crude oil production capacity to 3 million barrels per day. Other goals are to increase natural gas production capacity to 800 million standard cubic feet per day and to increase cooking gas production to 3,000 tons per day.

As of November 2006, Iraq’s oil production stood at 2.5 million barrels per day. The $1.7 billion budget for the project includes work to put a pipeline over the Tigris river, which was completed in June, as well as work to repair and modernize all of Iraq’s infrastructure:

Other key projects include rehabilitating oil wells, refurbishment of the oil export terminal near Basrah, repairing gas oil separation plants, compressor stations, water injection facilities and training oil workers.

Two new oil fields are under development in Iraq, and output is expected to reach 90,000 barrels per day.

Oil ministry spokesman Asim Jihad, quoting remarks by oil minister Hussain Shahristani, said development would start 'soon' with an initial output of 30,000 barrels per day, rising to its 90,000 bpd capacity within two years.

A second field, East Baghdad, would also be priority, Jihad said, adding that development would also start there 'soon'. He said Shahristani gave no further detail on the timing.

'We are going to start developing Ahdab in Wasit province soon, to produce 30,000 barrels per day, rising to 90,000 in two years,' Jihad told Reuters.

In Nasiriyah, work is nearing completion on a new water treatment plant. The plant will provide fresh water for more than 500,000 residents in the area. The plant is owned by the Iraqi government and be operated by Iraqis.

Also in Nasiriyah, U.S. Army engineers delivered toys to happy Iraqi children in an effort to promote goodwill:

“We put the toys, animals and candy into plastic baggies to give to the children. Sending the stuffed animals makes the people at home happy to be a part of this effort; receiving the animals makes the children here happy; and I am happy that I can help in some small way to make this exchange happen. Everyone wins,” Parks said.

Residents of Baghdad’s Al Mansour District received free medical care, compliments of Iraqi army and Coalition medical personnel:

The combined medical operation provided citizens of the neighborhood with basic health care and the medicine needed for their ailments.

Care packages, wheel chairs, blankets and toys where [sic] also distributed to the patients by soldiers from the 414th Civil Affairs Battalion, currently attached to the 4th BCT.

Soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division handed out supplies to children in Radwaniyah. Such outreach efforts are actually an important tool in securing Iraq:

The simple act of giving the Iraqi children basic items has led to the discovery of dangerous weapons and improvised-explosive devices. Sometimes when the Iraqi children recognize soldiers who have helped them, they show the soldiers where such dangerous weapons are located.

“Giving the children items they need helps them get over the fear of people (soldiers) in uniform,” said Capt. Mark Griffin, a civil affairs officer, who operates with the 2nd BCT. “It shows them that people in uniform are not bad.”

After being almost entirely drained by Saddam, Iraq’s marshlands are making a comeback:

Satellite images and analysis released by UNEP today showed that almost 50 per cent of the total area, one of the world's largest wetland ecosystems, had been re-flooded with seasonal fluctuations, in sharp contrast to agency images in 2001 that revealed that 90 per cent of the Marshlands had already been lost.

The Iraqi government is planning to spend $500 million on building projects in the city of Basrah. The city is expected to be designated a free-trade zone in 2007, and fixing and expanding the city’s port facilities are a priority.

Also in Basrah, construction of a new children’s hospital is underway. The project’s total cost is estimated at $157 million, with the U.S. contributing $95 million:

“A specially designed foundation and engineered soil was brought in to prepare the existing conditions for the hospital complex,” Frank said. “The project includes a two-story 16,350 square meter main hospital facility, a separate 1,000 square meter building that provides sleeping accommodations for 32 physicians and nurses, two separate electrical and mechanical buildings at 600 square meters each, three separate guard houses, landscaping, paved parking, a soccer field and a 1,134 meter security wall enclosing the site.”

The main hospital facility has 94 patient beds, 20 outpatient exam rooms, an eight-bed pediatric intensive care unit, a seven-bassinette neonatal intensive care unit, and four general nursing wards, Frank said.

Other features include two operating rooms, an oncology center; an imaging department with radiography, fluoroscopy, CAT scan, MRI and ultrasound capabilities; an emergency department, and an outpatient endoscopy suite.

Besides the positive health aspects of a new hospital, the project will boost the overall economic prosperity of the region.

“Within the first month of our contract, the project was employing over 400 people on a daily basis including construction workers, a supervisory staff of over 30 contractor personnel, and over 100 security workers who provide 24-hour site security, said Paul Farley, the BCHPO’s construction rep.

Early this year, a new teaching hospital will open its doors in Najaf. The $110 million facility has 420 beds and 18 operating rooms. The hospital will employ more than 1,200 Iraqis, including 100 doctors and 200 medical students.

According to the mayor of Mahmudiyah, the city’s market is the “heart” of the community, but it is in dire need of repair after being targeted by numerous terrorist attacks. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is helping the people of the city by overseeing a $256K renovation of the market:

About 100,000 residents in the Mahmudiyah area (located 20 miles south of Baghdad) utilize the market and local farmers bring in their produce and meat for local consumption. It’s a main economic engine of the community “and our residents really appreciate the improvements that are underway,” the mayor noted.

The police in Baghdad now have a state-of-the-art forensics facility to assist in solving crimes. The $1.9 million forensics laboratory is located in Karadah, in the province of Baghdad.

Construction was recently completed on a new courthouse in the town of Husseiniya, in Baghdad Province. The $408,000 project will serve approximately 100,000 residents in the area.

Three hundred children in Kirkuk will benefit from the construction of a new primary school. The $269,000 project includes two new classrooms, an administrative building and a latrine, as well as generators and a playground.

On December 11, Austrian Air Group became the first European airline to offer flights to Iraq. Two flights a week are scheduled to land at Erbil airport:

Erbil "is a safe gateway," according to the AAG. "With a population approaching one million people, Erbil is the fourth-largest city in Iraq, and the fastest-growing in the country."

In fact, Iraq’s airline industry as a whole is coming to life:

At the chaotic Baghdad International Airport, hundreds of passengers are jammed up at the only security checkpoint. Western contractors carrying green duffel bags and Iraqi families with carts of luggage shout at unfazed security guards.

To Kifah Hussein Jabbar, director of Iraqi Airways, it's music to his ears. "We are making progress and achieving good results," says Jabbar, director of Iraq's national carrier. "In 2005, we were flying three or four flights a day and maximum 300 passengers a day. Today, we operate 10 to 12 flights per day and carry 1,500 passengers daily."

Iraq's airline industry — long grounded by sanctions, no-fly zones, lack of funds and violence — is experiencing a boom, particularly in the peaceful Kurdish provinces in northern Iraq.

After three years of inactivity, Iraq’s ministry of industry has resumed production of buses, trailers, and caravans, as well as parts for the oil industry.

USAID is helping the Iraqi government set up a program to offer microloans to businesses. More than 100 participants attended a two-day summit in Erbil to discuss “the role of microfinance in economic development and job creation in Iraq.”

Kirkuk is just one of the places already benefiting from microfinancing programs:

A few months ago, a terrorist incident in Kirkuk destroyed most of the stock of a local pharmacy, leaving a family-owned business in tatters and depriving the community of much needed medication. The pharmacy and the services it provides to the community will soon be fully restored: in mid-July the family took out a loan - the equivalent of $3,000 in Iraqi dinars – to replenish the stock and rebuild the business. As small as it may look, the amount means a lot.

On December 12, the World Bank extended $40 million in credit to Iraq to assist in the rehabilitation of two hydroelectric power stations in the Kurdish north:

The objective of the project is to alleviate the current power supply shortfall by improving the operating performance of the Dokan and Derbandikhan power stations through urgent repair works. According to the World Bank, the project will also strengthen local capacity and prepare for the subsequent full rehabilitation of the Dokan and Derbandikhan hydropower plants in order to restore their original capacity of 400 and 249 megawatts respectively.

In the town of Nafar, a potable water project is now complete. The project will benefit 5,000 residents of the area. The project cost 629 million Iraqi dinar.

As of November 2006, 2,610 reconstruction projects have been completed in Iraq, including:

1,420 MW of power have been added to the Iraqi power grid, increasing supply to 1.3 million homes;

Oil production is up to 2.2 million barrels per day, and liquefied petroleum gas production is at 1,200 tons per day;

422,000 cubic meters per day of water treatment capacity has been added, benefiting 2.1 million Iraqis;

Seven primary healthcare centers have been completed, of these six are open and operating, and 15 hospital rehabilitation projects have been completed;

838 schools have been repaired of constructed, benefiting 335,000 students; and

239 kilometers of village roads have received upgrades.