Okay folks, I have a lot of time on my hands so I figure I'd look at some dates and headlines. I started at the beginning of this current thread and culled out some important dates/accomplishments from the last 7 days or so...it's a little long, but I think it will help with the big picture...


**Earlier this month (March) Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Franklin Lavin visited The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) to deliver a speech entitled "Opportunities and Challenges for Economic Growth in Iraq."

In the address, Under Secretary Lavin shared observations from his recent trip to Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan and described the U.S. Commerce Department's economic policy priorities for Iraq.

In addition to launching the U.S.-Iraq Business Dialogue, Lavin also aimed to work on the Iraq Gateways Initiative, "which is simply to encourage companies that are looking at Iraq – are looking at doing business in Iraq – to think about particular locales that might be more fruitful environments for starting a business," Lavin said.

Regarding the Iraqi dinar, Lavin commented: "I think probably an underreported story is a very stable currency, so at least trade and normal economic decision-making can be facilitated."

**19 March Arab summit ini Riyadh--among other things discussed, Iraq sovereinty (sp) and security and diligence on the distribution of Iraq's wealth in a fair manner.

**29 March "Spring Fair," held at a hotel within the concrete blast walls of Baghdad's Green Zone, visitors were treated to displays of silk rugs, antique pistols, daggers decorated with gems, and other locally made arts and crafts. The hallways were lined with photos of Iraqi holy sites.

**29 March Shell VP Confirms Gas Development Talks with Iraq

**29 March (VOI) - Iraqi Central Bank initiated a new policy to sell more dollars and obtain dinars to cover items from the national budget, which is in Iraqi dinars for the first time since 2003,

**30 March Appreciation of Iraqi dinar called 'commendable' at IMF meeting
The Stand-By Arrangement in an amount equivalent to SDR 475.36 million (about $714.7 million) was approved on Dec. 23, 2005. In completing the latest reviews, the Executive Board also approved the authorities' request for a six-month extension of the arrangement through Sept. 28. Additionally, the Board also approved the authorities request for a waiver of the non-observance of a structural performance criterion.

**30 March Kuwait announces steps to discourage speculation on it's currency

**30 March The Conference of investment companies in London, examines the reconstruction of Iraq's airports, and Najaf Airport will be completed within 6 months

**30 March Port (Khor Al-Zubair) Basra governorate receives largest vessel for the transport of oil

**31 March Karbala, March 31 (VOI) – The foundation stone for the Modern Village project was laid as part of upgrading 26 villages in Iraqi provinces at a cost of 10,400 billion Iraqi dinars, Iraq's agriculture minister announced on Saturday. How big is their budget??

**1 April Foreign investors started to buy land in areas of religious tourism investment law, the new soaring market

**1 April Baghdad Bourse welcoming foreign investors The mediators are studying new measures

**2 April Department of Commerce announced that the coming days will witness the opening (6) Mlhaqiat trade to Iraq in a number of countries around the world. especially that need to enter into contracts with various foreign companies, including the Ministry of Commerce, which requires the work contracts of Foreign Affairs.

**2 April GCC central banks governors meet in Saudi Arabia Tuesday to discuss single currency issues and possible individual currency revalues

**"Early April There will be a Financial Action Task Force for the Middle East and North Africa held its fifth meeting in Amman early next April under the chairmanship of the Governor of the Central Bank of Jordan

**2 April Instructed the Ministry of Oil to South Oil Company approached 15 international competent digging oil wells to drill 50 new oil wells.

**3 April Lukoil entered largest oil producer in Russia partnership agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday and said it depends on the support in the framework of preparations for the rehabilitation giant oil deal in Iraq.

**3-4 April Iraqi econimic heavies get together in Amman Jordan to discuss among other things the monetary policy in accordance with article VIII...

**4 April Zarcar Ali added that the Cabinet approved with majority on decisions of the Governmental committee to execute the article 140, but it put a condition that word "all desirous" should added to one of four decisions which related to return Arabs coming to their areas first.

**4 April ISX one step closer to electronic trading...implementing the electronic circulation, is the registration in the International Numbering Agency which will enable international investors from trading through more than one intermediary

**4 April Iraqi Stock Exchange offering guarantees to foreign dealers Drew observers speculate the movement of the stock market in the Iraqi Stock Exchange, to the recovery that accompanied the recent trading sessions, particularly after the announcement of the adoption of mechanisms for the circulation of securing non-Iraqi investors in the market

**4 April The Canadian Society of the architects of Iraq in Britain and a workshop on the oil and gas discussed with the oil companies, one of the global importance of the oil and gas and the nature of the recent oil contracts that are universally deal between the companies and the oil producing countries.

The workshop was opened by Mohamed al-Daraji, Director of the Association of Canadian conversation about the status of oil production in Iraq, where it was stated that in Iraq there 80 field discovered, but depends on the use of oil currently 27 field only, and spread to 10 fields in the Basra governorate, and four in Amarah, as well as in Kirkuk and Nineveh, and 3 in Salahuddin, and the field, only 1 in Baghdad, Diyala, and added that the reserves of oil up to 1 - 1-2000 is 141.5 billion barrels, produced for the extremely 1 - 1-2006 amounted to 30.1 billion barrels, and continued to reserve the potential for Iraqi oil would amount to 214 billion barrels of oil.

**4 April Najaf Governate begins expediting entry visas for Arab and other foreign investors

**4 April The Iraqi Central Bank said that its new monetary policy will enhance the ability of banks to manage short-term liquidity.

**5 April The UAE’s Crescent Petroleum met with Iraqi officials this week to finalise a joint study on an oil exploration area in southern Iraq, Crescent said in a statement on Thursday.

**6 April Iraqi Parliament to discuss the oil and gas in Dubai tomorrow --who knows what's going on with this--first it's 18 april, then postponed to may, and now it may happen on the 6th...stay tuned...

**13-16 (approx)April expanded meeting of the finance ministers with their counterpart in the American Arabs to be held in Washington to discuss the protection of Iraq's funds.

**14-15 April Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund Washington, D.C.

**15 April US funding for the war in Iraq expires

**17-18 April Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees in Amman of the United Nations, UNHCR had been invited by ministers and government representatives from more than 200 nations to participate in the conference on Iraq's humanitarian, which will be held at the ministerial level, in the period from 17-18 of this month at the headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva.

**18 April (maybe) The House of Representatives held a seminar in Dubai to discuss the expanded oil and gas, on the eighteenth of April in which government officials and parliamentarians as well as Iraqis and foreign experts.

**before the end of April the new international conference on Iraq will take place "in the near future, certainly during the month," explaining that the conference will be held "at the level of foreign ministers, not in Baghdad, but probably in Kuwait."

**sometime in April "The Iraqi government is now getting ready to have its first dialogue with WTO in April 2007 in Geneva, Switzerland," Iraq's government has fulfilled all requirements and procedures to apply for the membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO), a USAID official in Baghdad said on Saturday.

**7-10 May Rebuild Iraq expo Jordanian capital Amman is being marketed as a window to enter war-torn Iraq market where $100 billion business prospects can be explored by Pakistani businessmen by participating in a ``Rebuild Iraq 2007’’ Preparations are under way in Saudi Arabia for the participation of major companies and factories Fair reconstruction of Iraq in 2007, organized by Riyadh Exhibitions Company Ltd, in collaboration with a company of international exhibitions where the exhibition will be held at the plaza for exhibitions in Amman, the Jordanian capital

**28-30 May Iraq Oil, Gas, Petrochemical & Electricity Summit to be held in Amman, Jordan The key decision makers from the Iraqi Government will be participating with the full intent of establishing relationships and entering into contractual negotiations with all international operators wishing to be part of both the upstream and downstream sectors.