Thread: Archive Latest News - Dinar Think Tank - 27/08/08 - 15/01/09

Shabandar: on Gov not to stall Security Agreement so as not to sequence new administration in USA

A member of the Iraqi parliament from the list, Izzat Shabandar Iraq that "the Iraqi government not to stall the negotiations on Security Agreement with Washington in order not to be subjected to harsh punishment from the new democratic administration in the United States."

The Shabandar in an interview with "Uzmatik" that "humiliated the Iraqi government, U.S. President outgoing George W. Bush for concessions to satisfy the Democrats, who arrived in the U.S. presidency now."

Shabandar added that "the Iraqi government's procrastination in the negotiations would mean exposure to the harsh penalties may include the cost of government presence of U.S. troops in Iraqi territory for 2009 if the extension of the presence of these forces by the UN Security Council."

Shabandar pointed out that "the Democrats absorbed the lesson that President Bush received the outgoing George W. Bush, by the Iraqi government, particularly with respect to the humiliating concessions made to pass a Security Agreement with Baghdad."

A member of the Iraqi Council of Representatives on "the existence of contacts between the Democrats and the constituent parties of the Iraqi government advised the Democrats, these parties agree to the current version of the security agreement with Washington, and not Itmawa take further concessions because it gave them a Republican dream", he said.

Shabandar ruled that "gives Democrats new concessions to the Iraqi government demanded that the paragraphs on the amendment to the Convention security," noting that "the constituent parties of the Iraqi government retreat from the increasing demands to amend the Convention, non-betting concessions by the new democratic administration."

He expected the Iraqi deputy that "the election of Obama Park to the stability of security conditions in Iraq, largely because it will open a new page in relations between Washington and Iraq's neighbors," as he put it.

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Demand for dollar drops in CBI auction

Demand for the dollar went down at the Central Bank of Iraq’s (CBI) auction on Thursday, registering at $124.620 million, compared to $171.610 million in the previous session.

“The demand hit $58.370 million in cash, covered by the bank at an exchange rate of 1,182 Iraqi dinars per dollar; and $66.250 million in foreign transfers outside the country at an exchange rate of 1,179 Iraqi dinars per dollar,” according to a release issued by the CBI.

None of the 14 banks that participated in the session offered to sell dollars.

The Central Bank of Iraq runs a daily auction from Sunday to Thursday.

Demand for dollar drops in CBI auction : Aswat Al Iraq

Trade: International Companies refused to sign contracts with us

Said Trade Minister Abdel Falah Hassan, the Sudanese varied food prices in world markets and unstable because of the financial crisis led to the rejection of corporate contract until a clear picture.

The Sudanese press statement released Friday that the economic changes taking place in the world, whether through the financial crisis imposed on the nations of the world for a number of changes by a large fall in oil prices that led to instability on the global market to decline in food prices make the ministry Deeply embarrassed by varying market prices declined while companies contracted to clear the picture.

The Sudanese Ministry should use this decline to sign new contracts especially in the articles of wheat, rice, tea, milk and benefit from the effects of the crisis.

He said the limits of money to these contracts is not available in contract gives us an opportunity to provide large quantities to fill the requirements of the ration card for a long time.

He pointed to the importance of the Sudanese supply of food items in large bids away from the cash purchase Tdtrlh ministry because of the failure of most of the tenders are for the purchase of most items of the ration card.

He called to find realistic solutions to return to the mechanisms of contracting the tender by a range of ideas developed by the Ministry firms and consultants.

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Iraq summit in Oil and Gas in Texas

Iraq participated in the conference held in Texas in the United States to provide an in-depth study of oil and gas sectors in Iraq.

The source said a news conference Friday that was attended by Governor of Najaf, Asaad Abu tirelessly and Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations Hamid al-Bayati and in the presence of Chairman of the Commission on oil and gas Abdul Hadi 2000 and in the presence of the representative of oil company officials and government agencies specializing in representing the world's thirty countries had forefront of the U.S.

The source said that Abu tirelessly addressed the Conference of the possibility of investment in accordance with the laws established by the federal government in Iraq.

It should be noted that the objectives of the Conference to agree on mechanisms for oil investment in Iraq and the exchange of expertise and access to the best conventions in the mutual cooperation between oil and Iraq.

The conference aims to provide an overview of current and future strategic challenges for the oil sector and energy in the country and the possibility of contributing States in the global economy by protecting Iraq's oil and energy resources.

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Investment Authority: Arab & foreign investors will build tourist resorts in Babylon

Director of the investment in Babylon striker Alaa said Friday that a number of Arab and foreign investors will build tourist resorts the government, and the investment opportunities to serve the Middle Euphrates region.

The striker told the "Uzmatik" that "the project will link the province of Kut, 180 km south of Baghdad, Babylon, 100 km south of Baghdad and Kerbala, 145 km south of Baghdad and Najaf, 160 km south of Baghdad, Babil province railway lines."

The spear that "the idea of the project is to make Babylon center of transportation, as the project aims to link East and alienated Iraq's neighboring countries to promote the commercial reality," noting that "the project serves ten million people inside Iraq and about five million visitors from various countries, as well as a bridge For the transfer of goods ".

The director of the investment that "the body was able to overcome the obstacles facing investors, the services provided by the audits to obtain the required approvals."

The Director of the Board in Babylon leave the investment to local investors in agriculture and industry, "noting that" there are a number of investors have made in building the housing units as horizontal and vertical, towers, hotels and tourist complexes in the north of Hilla, "he said, noting that" the technical personnel of the Completed the necessary surveys near the ancient city of Babylon, about 10 km north of the city of Hilla, for the establishment of hotels and towers. "

The head of the "The area allocated to maintain four thousand dunums to build a major industrial city in terms of Kifl, 15 km south of the city of Hillah to accommodate various industries including iron and steel plants and plant waste recycling and other".

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US Dept of Treasury: Deputy Secretary Robert M. Kimmitt, Dialogue on Business & Investment Climate

It is a pleasure to join in welcoming you to the Dialogue on Business and Investment Climate. On behalf of the American delegation, including Ambassador Crocker and my colleagues from Washington -- John Sullivan and Mike Delaney -- I would like to express appreciation to our Iraqi hosts, and particular appreciation to my friend, Vice President Adil Abdul Mahdi, for hosting this event.

We meet in the midst of historic transformation in the global economy. In just the past few weeks, the United States and other countries have taken steps to: provide much needed liquidity to the financial system; strengthen financial institutions; protect investors; and enhance market stability. These actions are a powerful step toward restoring the health of the global financial system, and creating the conditions for continued increases in cross-border trade and investment.

Even as we seek to stabilize the major economies' financial markets, we continue to focus attention on supporting emerging markets, including Iraq, at this time of global stress. Without economic progress and sound financial practices, political and security gains will remain temporary. This is why the U.S. Government is committed to working alongside the Iraqi leadership to help create a stable macroeconomic environment, strengthen the financial system, and build a solid foundation for private sector economic growth.

Private sector development is the engine of a flourishing economy and the only sustainable catalyst for job creation. Expanding the private sector helps diversify the economy, making the country more resilient to external economic and financial shocks. It also brings in new management techniques and the latest technology, which create efficiencies that enable businesses to compete in the regional and global marketplaces.

Iraq has many resources from which to draw, and its immense natural resources are only the most well known. Companies around the world are beginning to recognize the long-term investment opportunities that now exist in the agricultural, infrastructure, telecommunications, financial services, and tourism sectors. However, there are many obstacles that limit business opportunities for Iraqis and their international counterparts.

That is precisely why we are here today. This morning, we will hear from Iraqi leaders discussing the progress they are making in reforming investment laws and regulations, including through the National Investment Commission. Later today, we will hear from the private sector and the World Bank, who will discuss ways that the Iraqi government and its international partners can best promote investment and leverage public and private sector initiatives. Importantly, key officials from the Council of Representatives as well as provincial governors will also participate in the dialogue to help shape the vision for Iraq's economic future.

It is important to emphasize at the outset that today's dialogue is not the first effort to promote Iraq's private sector. I would like to note some of the work that Iraq, and we in the international community, are already doing to help improve the Iraqi economy, as a basis for discussing how to do even more together:

• First, Iraq has made significant progress implementing a sound macroeconomic framework. Their accomplishments include establishing a strong and respected currency, lowering inflation, improving fiscal policies, attaining consistent growth, and reducing subsidies. Iraq has also passed an important investment law that will help lay the legal basis for foreign investment in the country. And it has maintained a trade regime built on a simple, low tariff schedule.
• Externally, Iraq has substantially decreased the sovereign debt burden incurred under the former regime by actively engaging with the international community. By concluding agreements with remaining official creditors, particularly in the Gulf, Iraq would send a positive signal to investors that it can resolve disputes amicably. Investors are also closely watching political negotiations in Iraq, including on security arrangements. We hope that negotiations on a security agreement can be concluded as quickly as possible.
• Second, agencies from across the U.S. Government, many of whom are represented here today, are implementing initiatives to support Iraq's private sector development. For instance:
• The Treasury Department is providing technical assistance and guidance to help Iraq modernize its public banking sector.
• The Department of Defense's Task Force to Improve Business and Stability Operations in Iraq focuses on encouraging industrial revitalization, attracting foreign investment and market access, and modernizing the private banking sector.
• The United States Agency for International Development helps expand private sector access to financing, supports regulatory reform, and distributes assistance for development support to Iraqi businesses.
• The Overseas Private Investment Corporation, through programs like the Iraq Middle Market Development Foundation, has created loan programs to support small and middle market businesses initiatives.
• Third, and finally, the international community as a whole has also helped Iraq rebuild its economy. At the Madrid Donors' Conference in 2003, 45 countries and international institutions pledged $34 billion for reconstruction and development. In the International Compact with Iraq, agreed to in Sharm el Sheikh in 2007, an even larger group of donors provided additional support in return for Iraqi's commitment to multiple benchmarks to create an enabling environment for private investment and job creation. And, the United Nations and World Bank both manage the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq, into which donors have contributed almost $80 million focused on private sector development in Iraq.

While much has been done – by Iraq, by the U.S. Government, and by the international community – significant challenges remain. The World Bank's Doing Business Indicators ranked Iraq 152 of 181 countries. We already know some of the most important areas for improvement: the complexity of Iraq's existing laws, regulations, and administrative procedures; the need for competition and consumer protection laws; and importantly, the publication of implementing regulations for the new investment law. Iraq's ministerial and provincial budget ****ution also is still too slow, and the average time and cost to start a business are some of the highest in the region.

The Iraqi government, with the support of international donors, is creating a strategy to overcome these hurdles, including efforts with the World Bank to improve the ease of doing business. But the Iraqi government and its international partners also have much to learn from our private sector colleagues, including those in this audience. You have the resources and experience to help Iraq develop a robust private sector, by helping identify and resolve some of the major impediments that investors face.

By building a vibrant economy led by the private sector, we will help improve the lives of the Iraqi people, enhance stability, and bolster prospects for lasting peace. But there are also sound business reasons for exploring investment opportunities at this time. By leveraging the ingenuity and entrepreneurship of those from all communities involved, we will achieve much more together than we ever could acting alone.

http://www.isria.info/RESTRICTED/D/2...ber2008_30.htm

Reducing next year's budget will not affect the plans & economic programs to provinces & regions

Said a member of the Economic Committee in the House of Representatives full of Albulada said that the reduction of the budget next year will not affect the overall economic plans and programs to the provinces and regions if the deal with the ideal money and follow-up.

The Albulada told the independent press (Iba) said Friday that the country has investment projects in several provinces have allocated substantial sums this year, in addition to the amounts allocated to investment Mozanp within the next year. Confirmed that it was the right home that felt the repercussions of the money on his year through the completion of projects and infrastructure development.

The Albulada The rates of completion of projects in the provinces have not lived up to the required level, because the money allocated to them approved in March last and not the beginning of this year. Likely to reinstate the House of Representatives to consider fixing the date of release of funds to give sufficient time for completion of projects in the provinces.

The Albulada to encourage the private sector to create investment opportunities and projects that attract the savings of citizens and cash flow for effective participation in development plans. Calling for the lifting of the efficient functioning of the State organs and public facilities so as to improve the performance and control to conform with international standards.

The International Monetary Fund obligates the Iraqi government to reduce the state general budget for 2009 to 67 billion instead of $ 80 billion, based on the price of a barrel of oil stands at about $ 62.

This came in talks between the ministers of finance and Iraqi oil Bayan Jabr Zubaidi, Hussein Shahristani in Amman with a delegation of the International Monetary Fund, where Zubaidi said that the Iraqi rejection of the demands of the International Monetary Fund liberalization of prices of petroleum products and stop increasing the salaries of workers in the state and reform of the Iraqi dinar exchange rate, With the Iraqi side agreed to reduce the state's public budget by 13 billion dollars.

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Bush, Obama to discuss Iraq, economy Monday

US President George W. Bush said Thursday that he and successor Barack Obama will discuss Iraq and the global economic crisis in their first post-election face-to-face talks, set for Monday.

Bush, who steps down January 20th after eight years, told about 1,000 aides during an emotional thank-you speech that they needed to bring Obama's team up to speed on critical matters like the war and the meltdown. "I look forward to discussing those issues with the president-elect early next week," the US president said, 75 days before he makes history by handing the keys to the White House to the first black US president. The president-elect said in a statement that he and his wife Michelle Obama "look forward to meeting with President Bush and the First Lady on Monday to begin the process of a smooth, effective transition."

"I thank him for reaching out in the spirit of bipartisanship that will be required to meet the many challenges we face as a nation," said Obama, who also received his first major intelligence briefing from Bush aides on Thursday.

The meeting will be Obama's first at the White House since his decisive November 4 victory. The talks will come just days before world leaders converge on Washington for a November 15 summit to address the causes of and remedies to the international economic crisis, likely the first in a series. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush were to greet the Obamas, then the incumbent and his successor were to meet in the Oval Office as their spouses toured the residence section of the mansion, said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.

Bush, whose deep unpopularity helped power Obama's victory over Republican rival John McCain, also warned that terrorists like those behind the September 11, 2001 attacks may strike at the United States during the handover. "We're in a struggle against violent extremists determined to attack us, and they would like nothing more than to exploit this period of change to harm the American people," he said. Bush cited the threat of terrorism and "economic challenges that will not pause to let a new president settle in" among the top reasons for which "ensuring that this transition is as smooth as possible is a priority for the rest of my presidency."

"For the next 75 days, all of us must ensure that the next president and his team can hit the ground running," said the president, who leaves office January 20.

Perino confirmed that Obama was getting intelligence briefings and said that the White House was connecting the soon-to-be 44th US president with world leaders and diplomats eager to meet him. "People are very excited about our next president, and they're interested in getting to meet him and putting their ideas or their agendas in front of him to make sure that they continue to have a good, seamless relationship with the United States of America, and we're going to help facilitate that," she said. Months ago, Bush ordered a government-wide effort to make sure that the first wartime transfer of power in Washington in decades would go smoothly, with briefings for Obama and McCain staff on key issues.

Top Obama national security aides are expected to attend special exercises to test responses to natural disasters or terrorist attacks, and even the Obama press staff will get help by shadowing Bush communications aides. While the incumbent is eager to help his successor, "I don't think that President Bush will be presumptuous in trying to talk to Barack Obama about how he makes decisions, or how Barack Obama should make decisions," said Perino.

"I think that the American people decided that this is the man that they want to be president of the United States, and that he'll be the one that they trust to make decisions," the spokeswoman said.

http://pukmedia.com/english/index.ph...=7433&Itemid=1

President Talabani and Ambassador Croker emphasize on SOFA

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani received on Friday in his residence in Baghdad, the U.S. Ambassador in Iraq Ryan Croker accompanied by Ambassador David Sullivan, Megan O. Sullivan and a number of the personnel in the U.S embassy in Baghdad.

The ongoing negotiations regarding the expected forces withdrawal agreement to be signed between Iraq and U.S. especially after receiving the U.S. reply on the Iraqi proposed changes, was the top issue of their talks.

President Talabani and Ambassador Croker stressed on the importance of the pact in organizing and expanding the strategic ties between both countries and the need to promote these relations to guarantee the national sovereignty and to serve the joint interest of both sides.

They also exchanged views on amending the province council elections law, the President emphasized the necessity to reach solutions that keep the minority rights especially the Christians and other minorities.

For his part, the U.S. Ambassador emphasized his country’s constant support to democracy and the political process in Iraq appreciating the stances of the President concerning rebuilding the new and unified Iraq in which all the key components participate without denying any component from its rights.

http://pukmedia.com/english/index.ph...=7441&Itemid=1

Central Bank denies the commission to increase the amount of daily auctions

Iraq's central bank denied to increase the amount charged by the commission on the sale of foreign currency in Mzhadath Journal.

An official source in the bank, told the independent press (Iba) said Friday that the untrue reports circulated yesterday, Thursday, a number of local media said the bank intends to raise the daily auction commission the pretext of the devaluation of the dollar over the Iraqi dinar and increased demand for the dollar.

He added that the commission still Bank (3) dinars per dollar deduction Dinarin Dolreetn amounts to any bought the cash purchase price equal to the cash sale price. He pointed to the opening of the auction last day of 1285 the figure for the sale and purchase of foreign currency without a change in the commission.

The source confirmed that the sale price of remittances is set (1179) dinars to the dollar, including commission (3) dinars per dollar and the selling price is set to cash (1182) dinars to the dollar, including commission (6) dinars to the dollar.

The source demanded that the media, which published a review of official sources said vested in the Central Bank of Iraq with regard to the statements on monetary policy, including auctions daily news and not to be inaccurate, he said.

The recent auction of the bank witnessed a rise in demand for the dollar after the Bank Mapall total auction price of $ 124,620,000.

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