Thread: Iraq/Dinar News. 09/05 to 01/14/07

New Local Development Bank in Ramadan
Small loans without interest

Source : Al · Hafizullah
2006-10-04

The same official told the "news" that the loan approved by the bank during the month of Ramadan. and that it is dedicated to customers who have accounts in the bank · He pointed out that this loan is a new presentation of the financial institution which will remain valid until the end of the month of Ramadan ·

Regarding the conditions required to benefit from the loan, Mr. Abbas that the first requirement is that the customer has a balance of the bank, The second condition is to be found in pay, which must be equivalent or less than 30 thousand dinars · explaining that the customer obtains the 50% of pay, that, in any case whether the customer pay 30 thousand dinars, it earned 15 thousand dinars · If the taxi 20 thousand dinars would receive 10 thousand dinars · wage has identified 10 thousand dinars at a minimum to benefit from the loan · noting that receive 19 thousand dinars also earned the 10 thousand dinars loan ·

In the same context, the same official explained that the repayment of the loan will be in three phases in the three months from the end of November to the end of January. The bank does not impose an interest rate on the loan · noting that the percentage is 8%, but the bank did not take the loan interest rate, but benefit from the commission on the loan estimated at 300 dinars, which is the cost of the procedures and treatment of the loan · Regarding the steps to be followed, Mr. Abbas would ask the customer to go to the Agency, which was settled by the balance and where all operations of the withdrawal or deposit, The customer file containing a provision for the salary and certificate as well as the work in addition to the written request form is a particular loan held by him Mamadeh · stressing that facilitate the procedures to enable the customer to benefit from the loan easily ·

And proceeds from the initial week after starting the process, Mr. Abbas that there is demand for access and benefit from the loan. but he expected to be greater demand during the second half of the month of Ramadan ·
On loans always, The blame for the Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Boualem Jabbar on the allocation of the World on the cover of Mali exceeded 455 billion dinars during the first six months of the year compared to 523 billion dinars in 2005 in the form of loans to investors, especially in the agricultural sector ·

links

I am having a hard time understanding this. HELP! I need a translation for the translation. What is with the two dates Oct. 12, Oct. 1st?????
BTW, Thank you for all you have done SGS.

Originally Posted by shotgunsusie

this weekend might be fun. monday the 8th is a national holiday in the usa so banks are closed here. 3 day weekend.

hold up your partyin quite yet...

Perhaps so that Hamilton could make this statement: "The government of Iraq needs to show its own citizens soon, and the citizens of the United States, that it is deserving of continuing support. The next three months are critical. Before the end of this year, this government needs to show progress in securing Baghdad, pursuing national reconciliation and delivering basic services."





The next steps for Iraq
WASHINGTON, 04 October 2006 (The Washington Post)

The campaign season debate about Iraq, which circled last week around the question of whether the war has increased global terrorism, might suggest that Washington is nowhere near facing the critical question of what to do about the actual situation on the ground. Yet behind President Bush's "we're safer" rhetoric and the answering shouts of "fiasco," the most serious debate about U.S. Iraq strategy in three years is quietly emerging. Shortly after the election it should take center stage.

The central question for discussion is this: Should the United States continue to depend on Iraq's "unity" government and army to carry out the political, military and economic measures needed to stabilize the country -- most important, a political settlement among its warring sectarian factions? Or is it necessary to override the new political system and mount some sort of intervention, led by the United States and perhaps other governments, to force the necessary deals?

President Bush has been hinting about this decision point ever since Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's visit to Washington in July. "Iraq can count on our partnership as long as the new government continues to make the hard decisions necessary to advance a unified, democratic and peaceful Iraq," Bush said in an Aug. 31 speech. Administration officials say the passage was a warning deliberately aimed at al-Maliki.

A more explicit signal came in a Sept. 19 news conference by former Secretary of State James Baker and former Rep. Lee Hamilton, who are leading a congressionally mandated and Bush-blessed commission to consider options for Iraq. The panel long ago decided not to make recommendations until after the November elections. So why hold a news conference in September?

Perhaps so that Hamilton could make this statement: "The government of Iraq needs to show its own citizens soon, and the citizens of the United States, that it is deserving of continuing support. The next three months are critical. Before the end of this year, this government needs to show progress in securing Baghdad, pursuing national reconciliation and delivering basic services."
• • •

At least some in al-Maliki's government are hearing the warning. Two of its most pro-American officials, Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi and Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih, appeared in Washington in September. Mahdi, a Shiite, pleaded for more time, saying that Washington could not expect the new government to deliver results on a timetable measured in months. Salih, a Kurd, took a different tack, listing a string of measures he said would be approved by parliament before the end of the year.

In fact, amid the continuing chaos in Baghdad the parliament has finally begun to act: Last week Sunni and Shiite deputies struck a preliminary deal on legislation that would allow the creation of federal regions and set up a committee to consider amendments to the constitution. But al-Maliki is still resisting forceful steps against Shiite militias; and negotiations with Sunni insurgents have gone nowhere.

If such sluggishness continues, the Baker-Hamilton commission, and with it the consensus in Washington, could be tipped toward the conclusion that the United States can't look to the new political system for solutions. That doesn't mean there would be a precipitous American troop withdrawal; the commission will almost certainly conclude that such a step would be disastrous.

Instead, the time may finally be ripe for some of the ideas that have been doggedly pushed for most of this year by Democratic Sen. Joseph Biden, who has been one of his party's most serious and responsible voices on Iraq. In essence, Biden is proposing that the United States enlist its NATO allies, U.N. Security Council members and Iraq's neighbors for an intervention that would be aimed at forcing political and sectarian leaders to leap to the political settlement they are now creeping toward.

• • •

The settlement Biden has in mind is the division of Iraq into highly autonomous regions, dominated, respectively, by Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. That solution was the subject of last week's parliamentary deal, which postponed any action until 2008. A new reconstruction aid program would be launched; an international conference would commit Iran, Syria and other neighbors to a nonaggression pact. International peacekeepers would be recruited to patrol cities such as Baghdad. Meanwhile, most U.S. troops would be withdrawn by the end of next year, except for a residual force that could intervene against al-Qaeda.

It's easy to find holes in this strategy, as with any other plan for Iraq. To begin with, Iraqis simply may not be capable of jumping to a settlement. Perhaps only the pain of an extended civil war will get them there. But Biden's basic idea -- of an external political intervention backed by an international alliance -- is the one big option the Bush administration hasn't tried. It wouldn't be surprising if Baker -- master orchestrator of the Plaza agreement and the Madrid conference -- finds it compelling.

Jackson Diehl is a deputy editorial page editor for The Washington Post.

The next steps for Iraq | Iraq Updates

Originally Posted by Dr. Mike

I am having a hard time understanding this. HELP! I need a translation for the translation. What is with the two dates Oct. 12, Oct. 1st?????
BTW, Thank you for all you have done SGS.

The 12th is when they'll review the FIL.....


Parliament-Investment
Iraqi parliament to vote on draft investment law on October 12
By Kawther Abdul-Amir
Baghdad, Oct 4, (VOI) – Iraqi parliament 42nd session was adjourned to Thursday after delaying a vote on a draft investment law till October 12.
The parliament in its 42nd session "discussed a draft investment law while a vote on the draft will take place on October 12," said Parliament speaker deputy Khalid al-'Atiah.
Thursday's session is scheduled to continue a discussion of the draft investment law and a draft provinces law, he added.
The draft investment law received reservations by some parliamentarians as to the concessions and taxes exemptions given to a non-Iraqi investor.
The draft law gives an investor a ten-year-exemption of taxes and 50 years of unpaid rental of land plot where the economic facility was built.
Some Iraqi law makers see 30 years of unpaid rental is more satisfactory.

Maybe we should join the US Congress reval party...

************************************************** ***

NPR : Party Like It's 2003

Party Like It's 2003
October 4, 2006 · You just can't make this stuff up. Apparently, Congress has set aside $20 million for a victory party for Iraq and Afghanistan. Hey, if we didn't plan for the Iraq invasion aftermath, at least we can plan for the party.

From the New York Times:


Lt. Col. Brian Maka, a Pentagon spokesman, said late Tuesday that the event was envisioned as an opportunity for "honoring returning U.S. forces at the conclusion" of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. "As the funds were not used in F.Y. 2006," the official said, using the initials for fiscal year, "the authorization was rolled over into F.Y. 2007."

I'm betting that they'll be rolling that item over for a couple more years.

-- JJ Sutherland

9:51 a.m. EDT | 10-4-2006 | permalink

oh no....i so cofused!!

So, the term investment law = oil law and foreign investment law = fil?

I just wanted to get my terms straight. I was under the impression that the fil was supposed to be done and the hydrocarbon law is what they are working on.

Could I get some cliff notes on the laws, por favor?

Originally Posted by Adster

The 12th is when they'll review the FIL.....


Parliament-Investment
Iraqi parliament to vote on draft investment law on October 12
By Kawther Abdul-Amir
Baghdad, Oct 4, (VOI) – Iraqi parliament 42nd session was adjourned to Thursday after delaying a vote on a draft investment law till October 12.
The parliament in its 42nd session "discussed a draft investment law while a vote on the draft will take place on October 12," said Parliament speaker deputy Khalid al-'Atiah.
Thursday's session is scheduled to continue a discussion of the draft investment law and a draft provinces law, he added.
The draft investment law received reservations by some parliamentarians as to the concessions and taxes exemptions given to a non-Iraqi investor.
The draft law gives an investor a ten-year-exemption of taxes and 50 years of unpaid rental of land plot where the economic facility was built.
Some Iraqi law makers see 30 years of unpaid rental is more satisfactory.

Great,
Hope this is last time they need to look at the Foreign Investment Law.
And finally enact it. WOO HOO we are getting close.
LIT

Originally Posted by Adster

The 12th is when they'll review the FIL.....


Parliament-Investment
Iraqi parliament to vote on draft investment law on October 12
By Kawther Abdul-Amir
Baghdad, Oct 4, (VOI) – Iraqi parliament 42nd session was adjourned to Thursday after delaying a vote on a draft investment law till October 12.
The parliament in its 42nd session "discussed a draft investment law while a vote on the draft will take place on October 12," said Parliament speaker deputy Khalid al-'Atiah.
Thursday's session is scheduled to continue a discussion of the draft investment law and a draft provinces law, he added.
The draft investment law received reservations by some parliamentarians as to the concessions and taxes exemptions given to a non-Iraqi investor.
The draft law gives an investor a ten-year-exemption of taxes and 50 years of unpaid rental of land plot where the economic facility was built.
Some Iraqi law makers see 30 years of unpaid rental is more satisfactory.

Thanks for this Adster. Just wondering...does the currency have to be on the forex and trading before the FIL is passed? The voting itself wouldn't mean that it would implemented I guess. They might pass it and set a date for it to be effective. So, we might be looking at end Oct or even Nov for something to happen. Just my thoughts based on nothing but ignorance!

Originally Posted by postcon

Thanks for this Adster. Just wondering...does the currency have to be on the forex and trading before the FIL is passed? The voting itself wouldn't mean that it would implemented I guess. They might pass it and set a date for it to be effective. So, we might be looking at end Oct or even Nov for something to happen. Just my thoughts based on nothing but ignorance!

Once the FIL has been officially announced as passed we will see a r/v. It will then be listed and trading on the markets at the new rate......

As to when? I would hazard a guess but that's all it would be.

Australian companies to vie for Iraq drill rights PRINT FRIENDLY EMAIL STORY
PM - Wednesday, 4 October , 2006 18:26:00
Reporter: Emma Alberici
MARK COLVIN: On October the 18th Iraq's Oil Minister, Dr Hussein Shahristani, will visit Australia to receive an honorary doctorate in engineering from Melbourne's Monash University.

While he's here he'll meet representatives of the Australian energy industry who'd like to get a chance to drill in Iraq.

Iraq's proven oil reserves are the second largest after Saudi Arabia.

Iraqi oil also happens to be the cheapest in the world to produce.

The financial gains to be made are huge but no one knows when the country might be safe enough for foreign companies, or which companies might get the contracts.

This report from Emma Alberici.

EMMA ALBERICI: In 1997 Russia's Lukoil signed a multi billion dollar contract with Saddam Hussein

The Company was to have sole foreign rights to West Qurna, one of Iraq's biggest oil fields in the south of the country.

United Nations sanctions meant work on that project and those won by the Chinese and the French never started and now in post-war Iraq those agreements are in legal limbo.

Lukoil spokesman Vladimir Semakov.

VLADIMIR SEMAKOV: We're very hopeful that the first foreign company to start drilling in Iraq will be Russian Lukoil.

EMMA ALBERICI: How profitable do you expect the West Qurna project to be?

VLADIMIR SEMAKOV: It may be very very profitable. You see, as per our estimations, the proven reserves are estimated at 6 billion barrels of crude oil, the production costs in this particular project are much lower,

They were estimated at $1 to $1.50 per barrel or even lower, as compared for example to some fields in Russia, we might say that nowadays, it is $3 to $4 per barrel.

EMMA ALBERICI: Negotiations between the new Iraqi government and the Russians have improved since Lukoil agreed to share the project's profits with American oil and gas giant Conocophillips.

VLADIMIR SEMAKOV: Of course we understand that American companies now and the American government has great influence in Iraq at present time. So, Conocophillips may help us to at least start our project and it may help us in negotiations with Iraqi Government and the representatives of the Iraqi oil ministry.

EMMA ALBERICI: There were great hopes for the Iraqi oil industry post the war but there are two main stumbling blocks for those keen get their hands on the Country's black gold.

Most significantly is the politics. The Iraqi constitution passed in August last year defines oil as the property of all Iraqi people. But beyond stating that the revenues are to be distributed "fairly" between the Federal and regional governments, the constitution doesn't go into specifics.

Bill Farren Price is the Deputy Editor of the Middle East Economic Survey, a Cyprus based energy and political newsletter.

BILL FARREN PRICE: We have to see whether Bagdad can assert its control over the whole country in terms of oil development and investment, or whether we're going to see some sort of break up where regional governments do the negotiating and the central government is sidelined to some extent.

EMMA ALBARICI: Security looms as the other big hurdle for the world's big oil companies.

In the past three years, the insurgency has staged relentless attacks on the country's oil fields, pipelines and refineries.

The Iraqi oil industry is in such a shambles it can't produce enough crude oil and refined products to satisfy domestic demand let alone export to the world.

So despite the financial lure, Bill Farren Price says foreign oil company staff remain too scared to enter the country.

BILL FARREN PRICE: Security deteriorated to the point where it was just not feasible for international oil companies even to send their people into the country, they couldn't get the insurance coverage, for example.

EMMA ALBARICI: The big oil companies of the US and the UK have largely been shut out of Iraq for more than 30 years. Is there anything to suggest their passage will now be assured?

BILL FARREN PRICE: I think Iraq is keen to see investment from international oil companies from across the spectrum.

There's no question that the super majors, Shell, BP for example, have already laid the groundwork for building their relationship with Iraq through oil fields studies that they've carried out through Kirkuk and Rumalia oil field and also training programs. They've taken Iraqi petroleum engineers and trained them outside the country.

EMMA ALBARICI: Australia's oil and gas companies are now awaiting a visit by the Iraqi Oil Minister, Doctor Hussain al Shahristani.

He'll be in Australia in a fortnight to meet with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and to accept an honorary doctorate in engineering from Melbourne's Monash University

MARK COLVIN: Emma Alberici.
PM - Australian companies to vie for Iraq drill rights