Thread: Archive Latest News - Think Tank - 15/04/08 - 26/08/08

Second Economic Conference of Northern Provinces Held in Erbil

Under the title of a "Unified and Flourished Iraq" the second economic conference of the Northern provinces was held on Wednesday in Erbil, attended by the KRG Prime Minister, Nechirvan Barzani, the KRG Deputy MP, Omar Fatah, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, Rafeaa al-Eisawi, US Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Croker.

The one-day conference is for reinforcing the federal government’s support for the Northern provinces and dealing with the challenging problems. Many speeches were made by the attendees, stressing boosting Iraq’s economy and investment processes in the country. Representatives of the Northern provinces, including Duhok, Erbil, Sulaimani, Diyala, Nineveh, and Salah el-Din talked about their problems and needs in the conference.

PUKmedia :: English - Second Economic Conference of Northern Provinces Held in Erbil

Basra signs MoU with U.S. embassy in Iraq-governor

Governor of Basra on Wednesday announced he signed an economic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the U.S Embassy in Iraq to facilitate implementing auditing and monitoring system for projects in the southern province.

"Signing the MoU is considered as big economic progress for Basra after enjoying stability which had paved the way for a number of projects to be implemented by donor countries and the U.S. consulate," Mohamed Misbah al-Waeli, governor of Basra, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI).

Basra saw heavy clashes between government security forces and militiamen loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr following the announcement of a major crackdown by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki late March.

After agreeing on a truce in April, the government has announced a plan to reconstruct and boost the weak infrastructures in the southern city.

The governor highlighted the MoU would establish a monitoring and auditing system enabling the local authorities "to assess the performance of projects implementation in 15 months along with technical and training support for the province's employees."

"The system ensured deliver of the data and reports required for the province to the government offices, which would improve the performance of local authorities," he added.

The director of the U.S. Embassy's office in the south, said "this was the first time I met the Basra governor in his office, signaling a security improvement in the city."

He stressed the security improvement in Basra "encouraged seeking the U.S. Embassy's help to implement reconstruction projects in Basra," noting "the local authorities have a sufficient budget to carry out multiple projects in a number of fields."

Basra, a southern province and its port for oil exports, lies 590 km south of Baghdad.

Aswat Aliraq

Rafidain Bank gives 131b dinar loans to retirees

Iraq's Rafidain Bank has granted a total of 131 billion Iraqi dinars in loans to 72,000 retired persons from all over the country in an attempt to improve their standard of living.

"The bank's Baghdad branches have paid an estimated 34.513 billion Iraqi dinars (1 U.S. dollar = 1,119i Iraqi dinars) in loans to 14,738 retirees," according to a statement released by the Iraqi cabinet's national media center and received by Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI).

"The number of retirees who have received loans in the central area is 33,938. An additional 6,911 retired persons received 6.29 billion dinars in the southern area branches, in addition to 6,457 persons who have been granted 14.58 billion in the northern area branches," the statement noted.

Baghdad is the capital of Iraq and Baghdad province. With a municipal population estimated at 7,000,000, it is the largest city in Iraq. It is the second largest city in the Arab world (after Cairo) and the second largest city in southwest Asia (after Tehran).

Located on the Tigris River, the city dates back to at least the 8th century, and probably to pre-Islamic times.

Once the center of Dar al-Islam (the abode of Islam), Baghdad has been a center of violent conflict since 2003 because of the ongoing Iraq war.

Although there is no dispute over its Iranian origin, there have been several rival proposals as to its specific etymology. The most reliable and most widely accepted among these is that the name is a Middle Persian compound of Bag "god" + dad "given", translating to "god-given" or "God's gift."

Aswat Aliraq

Iraqi-Iranian private bank starts new branch

The Iraqi-Iranian Regional Cooperative Islamic Bank for Development and Investment on Wednesday started a new branch in Sulaimaniya, to activate banking in the Iraqi Kurdistan region, according to the branch's manager.

"The bank aims at activating banking business in Iraq and Kurdistan," Tharwat Lateef told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI).

"The Iraqi Central bank has changed its policy, and the banking business now is in progress," he added.

The Iraqi-Iranian Regional Cooperative Islamic Bank for Development and Investment was established in 2007, with a capital of 25 billion Iraqi Dinars.

Aswat Aliraq

CBI warns against dealing with unlicensed financial companies

The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) on Wednesday warned individuals and companies against dealing with financial companies that have not been officially licensed.

"The bank warns individuals of the repercussions from dealing with fictitious companies that have been carrying out swindles in Iraqi provinces," according to a statement released by the Iraqi cabinet's national media center and received by Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI), quoting a source from the bank's general department for dealings and credit monitoring.

"These companies promise people extremely high interest rates that exceed those offered by the Iraqi banking agency," the source said, noting that money laundering is usually used by the companies in the next stage of the process.

"Concerned bodies in the Ministry of Interior have been assigned to take appropriate actions against these companies, to close them down and bring them to court," the source noted.

http://www.aswataliraq.info/look/eng...=2&NrSection=2

Iraqi premier discusses with Seniora supplying Lebanon with crude oil

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad al-Siniora, who arrived in Baghdad on Wednesday, discussed with his Iraqi counterpart Nouri al-Maliki supplying Lebanon with Iraqi crude oil and means to boost bilateral ties, the media adviser of al-Maliki said.

"Al-Maliki and Siniora discussed a number of important issues during their meeting today, mainly supplying Lebanon with Iraqi crude oil and ways to foster bilateral relations," Yassin Majied told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq (VOI).

A media source had said earlier that Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad al-Siniora arrived in Baghdad on Wednesday morning and met his Iraqi counterpart Nouri al-Maliki.

This is the first visit for al-Siniora and the second for a senior Lebanese official in one month to Iraq.

Lebanese MP Saad al-Hariri visited Iraq last July 17 and met Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The official spokesman for the Iraqi government Ali al-Dabagh had said last Monday that al-Siniora will visit Baghdad this week and will meet al-Maliki and his two deputies Adel Abdul Mahdi and Tareq al-Hashemi to discuss political and economic issues.

Seniora is accompanied by a delegation grouping Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh, Information Minister Tareq Mitri and Minister of State for Administrative Reform Ibrahim Shamseddine.

Iraqi premier discusses with Seniora supplying Lebanon with crude oil - Middle East News

Deputy Minister of Agriculture: There are requests from States and international companies to work in Iraq

Said Deputy Agriculture Minister Dr. Mehdi Al-Qaysi licking the agricultural initiative approved by His Excellency the Prime Minister started work, and we had a meeting has not been with him two days sovereignty initiative Abbarkth strategic long-term in 2015 aimed at self-sufficiency and food security. The Deputy Minister of Agriculture that the strategic aim to meet the challenges and obstacles that stand in the development of agricultural production and we are now trying to invite specialized consulting firms to contribute to the reduction of the deterioration of the agricultural sector taken from the strategic ministry actors mechanisms for implementation.

He stressed that the cabinet is determined to promote the agricultural sector through the provision of all appropriate ways for success by giving financial support to open agricultural initiative, supported by the recent visit to Europe has been signing contracts with Italy and Germany to develop the agriculture sector of Iraq.

He said Iraq needed to invest significantly in the agricultural sector, and there are calls by States and international companies to work in Iraq, the agent added that the ministry is now trying to open investment, whether local or foreign in every non-cultivated land or who have been farming for certain reasons, the ministry will seek every What made to achieve food security of Iraq.

And the deficit in animal production, said Iraqi Deputy Minister of Agriculture, said that although the role of the Ministry of Agriculture to solve some problems that only the broad sector that the ministry is not possible to continue to involve itself, the Ministry of Agriculture has become the new role is (research, pilot, Travel & Tourism) For example, some plants suffer diseases as well as animals, the Ministry of Agriculture and Drug necessary to provide fodder and medicine ....Etc..

And determining disability digitally said Undersecretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, to be able to give any precise figure, as you know that the situation is ineligible for the issuance of any real number in this area so that livestock numbers are conflicting reports.

Translated version of http://www.almadapaper.com/paper.php?source=akbar&page=107

Iraq: Talks with Oil Giants Continue

A senior Iraqi oil official disputed reports that talks had broken down between Iraq and major international oil companies over deals to boost output, saying Wednesday that negotiations were ongoing.

A U.S. diplomat said Sunday that discussions over no-bid and short-term contracts had stalled and the Iraqi government was likely to abandon them.

The Iraqi official said Royal Dutch Shell PLC, BP PLC, Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and Total SA are "still on the table" and "none of them has pulled back" except for the U.S.-based independent Anadarko Petroleum Corp.

The official did not elaborate. He spoke on condition of anonymity since he was not authorized to discuss the talks publicly.

Anadarko was the leader a consortium that included Vitol Holding and the United Arab Emirates' Dome International, that would have developed the Luhais oil field in southern Iraq. But the Houston area company abruptly ended talks last week without saying why.

Since late last year, Iraq's Oil Ministry has negotiated with oil majors for two-year service contracts to develop several major oil fields in southern and northern Iraq.

The proposed two-year contracts with Western oil companies raised concerns about the perception that U.S.-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein to seize Iraq's vast oil reserves.

Last month, the ministry said it had limited the contracts to one year to avoid overlap with longer-term deals expected to be signed next June. Five of the oil fields up for longer-term development are also included in the no-bid contracts under negotiation.

They are Rumaila, Zubair, West Qurna 1, Maysan and Kirkuk.
Charles Ries, the outgoing chief economic official at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, told reporters that some companies had decided one-year contracts were not worth the investment and he expected most companies to pull out of the talks.

In e-mailed responses to The Associated Press last week, both Chevron and BP confirmed they were still in talks but released no details. Others did not respond.

Iraq is now producing about 2.5 million barrels of oil per day, its highest rate since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. The government hopes to produce 4.5 million barrels per day by 2013.

Iraq has more than 115 billion barrels of oil in its reserves, but its oil industry has been battered by years of war, U.N. sanctions and insurgents attacks.

The pending deals, once signed, would be something of a stopgap to help Iraq begin to increase production by 500,000 barrels until the country is able to approve a new national oil law -- now held up by political squabbles among Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.

Iraq: Talks with oil giants continue

New Iraq Minister to attend summit

Iraq’s new Minister of Communications Farooq Abdulqader Abdulrahman has confirmed his participation at the forthcoming Iraq Transportation & Communications Technology Summit.

The summit which will take place in Dubai on October 9 and 10, will welcome the newly appointed Minister along with a delegation of senior officials from the Iraq Telecommunications & Postal Company and the State Company for Internet Services.

The visit by the Minister provides one of the first opportunities for global operators to discuss the huge opportunities to work with the Government of Iraq on the country’s communications infrastructure.

The key areas of focus for discussion include the expansion of Iraq’s m.o.b.i.l.e telecommunications networks, the development of fixed line networks and public information technology systems.

Communications technology is a vital component in the clearly identified need to improve and develop Iraq’s transport infrastructure, with investment and knowledge sharing needed to regenerate the country’s railways, ports, airports and civil aviation sectors.

The summit will welcome strong delegations from the Iraqi Ministries of Transport and Science & Technology, as well as their counterparts from the Kurdistan Regional Government, said an official.

The summit has already attracted many of the world’s leaders in the communications technology sector, including the likes of Zain, Korek, Itisal.u.n.a, Alcatel-Lucent, N.o.k.ia Siemens, E.r.i.c.s.s.on, ZTE, Huawei, Prysmian, Tyco, Microsoft and Cisco.

Private meetings between these operators and the attending Iraqi officials will form a key component of the summit, which is based on a unique format whereby half of the summit time is devoted to speeches and presentations and the other half devoted to one-to-one meetings.-

tradearabia.com

Iraq agrees to export crude oil to Lebanon

Iraq will export crude oil to Lebanon as part of cooperation between the two countries in the fields of trade and oil.

This was announced by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki after holding talks with his visiting Lebanese counterpart Fouad Seniora Wednesday.

The first Lebanese leader to visit Iraq in two decades, Seniora was accompanied by his cabinet colleagues and an economic delegation.

Addressing a news conference in Baghdad, Al-Maliki said that the ministers of the two countries would conclude agreements regarding trade exchange in different fields. Lebanon was also seeking investments in the Iraqi oil sector, he told reporters.

"We have also agreed to a joint role in rebuilding inter-Arab ties, Al-Maliki added.

Seniora's visit is also focused on the strengthening of diplomatic ties between the Middle East nations. The two leaders discussed the return of Lebanon's ambassador to Baghdad.

Energy minister Alain Tabourian, the lone member of the Hezbollah party in Lebanon's unity government, boycotted the tour of Iraq in an apparent rift with Seniora.

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