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

Oil-rich Kirkuk could hold key to Iraq's future

[15:41 , 28 Oct 2006]

Kirkuk, Kurdistan-Iraq (The Guardian)

PNA- The tribal chiefs, in traditional robes and chequered headdresses, emerged from the dust stirred up by their convoy of pick-up trucks and walked towards the big white tent, gesturing welcomes to each other as they sat.

Accompanied by about 500 clansmen and a gaggle of local journalists, the 35 Sunni sheikhs - from Mosul, Tikrit, Samarra and Hawija - converged last week on Hindiya, on the scrappy western edges of Kirkuk, to swear their undying opposition to "conspiracies" to partition Iraq and to pledge allegiance to their president, Saddam Hussein.

Under banners exalting the man now standing trial in Baghdad for war crimes and genocide, the gathering heard speeches from prominent northern Iraqi sheikhs, Sunni Arab politicians and self-declared leaders of the Ba'ath party calling for the former dictator's release.

"If the Iraqi government wants national reconciliation to succeed and for the violence to end, they have to quickly release the president and end the occupation," said Sheikh Abdul Rahman Munshid, of the Obeidi tribe. "But most important of all," he added, "Kirkuk must never become part of Kurdistan. It is an Iraqi city, and we will take all routes to prevent the divisions of Iraq."

The heated debate about federalism in Iraq is no better exemplified than in Kirkuk. Though largely free of the sectarian wars taking place in Baghdad and its surrounding area, observers say the ethnic faultlines running through the city, which lies atop Iraq's second largest oilfield, make it a ticking time bomb that could pit Kurd against Arab and draw in neighbours such as Iran and Turkey.

"There are few more sensitive issues in Iraq today than what happens to Kirkuk," said a western diplomat in Iraq who works closely with the issue. "All eyes are on it, and all the ingredients for either consensual agreement or a devastating discord are there. If Kirkuk survives, then there's hope for Iraq."

As if to reinforce that message, within hours of the Sunni gathering a wave of suicide bombs rocked Kirkuk's city centre, including one in a crowded market and another in front of a women's teaching college. At least 15 civilians were killed and scores wounded.

Despite the oil riches that lie beneath, above ground Kirkuk appears a forlorn and neglected city. Street after street consists of humble two-storey dwellings with barely a modern building in sight. Litter is strewn everywhere, and there are huge queues at the petrol pumps. The tumble-down shops and market stalls in the centre of the city sell cheap consumer goods from Iran and Turkey.

The city's ancient citadel lies in ruins. The governor, Abdul Rahman Mustapha, a Kurd, blames the dilapidated state of the city on years of Ba'athist misrule. Neither does he have a good word for the current government in Baghdad. "They have ignored us and set so many obstacles in the path of our progress and reconstruction," he said.

Only now, three years after the end of the war, is money beginning to filter through for much-needed infrastructure work. In partnership with the US Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) and US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the provincial government has undertaken projects to provide fresh water to the mostly Arab south of the city, as well as garbage collection and treatment and the renovation of schools.

"A good sign is that Kurds, Turkomans and Arabs still eat in the same restaurants, and mix together," said Mr Mustapha. Yet, as with so many other of Iraq's major cities, the trauma of history is close to the surface. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s the Ba'ath party systematically drove out as many as 200,000 Kurds and Turkomans from urban and rural Kirkuk to tip the city's ethnic balance towards the Arabs and ensure strategic control of the oil fields.

After the fall of Saddam's regime, thousands of Kurds returned to the city, demanding the restitution of their land and property and the right to vote for Kirkuk to join the Kurdish autonomous region in the north. The Iraqi constitution promises to remove Arab settlers, who would receive compensation, and return Kurds to Kirkuk - an explosive issue for many non-Kurds.

"It will be disastrous," said Ali Mehdi, a Turkoman member of the provincial council. "The people won't accept the rule of the Kurdish parties. A civil war could break out any minute."

He said Kirkuk should achieve special independent status unallied to any regional blocs. Kurdish leaders insist, however, that they are neither after ethnic supremacy nor Kirkuk's oil, which could give them an economic base for future independence. Instead they are seeking to right historical wrongs.

"We want to see the issue resolved in a legal and peaceful way, as designated in the constitution," said Fuad Hussein, a senior aide to the Kurdish president Massoud Barzani. "Kirkuk is historically part of Kurdistan, but we will make sure it is well run and safe for everyone regardless of race or religion."

But he expressed dismay at the Sunni leaders' meeting. "Ba'athists meeting openly under the nose of Americans is not a good sign for the future," he said.

Relatively peaceful in the first two years after the fall of Saddam - defying observers who said civil war would start here - Kirkuk is witnessing an alarming increase in bloodshed as the political tensions rise. The wave of violence is terrifying residents and testing to the limit the fragile relations among its Kurdish, Arab and Turkoman residents.

The US military in Kirkuk says the city has been hit by 20 suicide bombs and 63 roadside bombs in the past three months. Local police and community leaders have been assassinated and politicians attacked. This despite a series of security sweeps by US and Iraqi forces and the digging of a large trench ringing Kirkuk's southern approaches, designed to funnel traffic into the city through official Iraqi army checkpoints.

Colonel Patrick Stackpole, who commands 5,000 US troops in a province of about one and a half million people, said the "violence is mainly by outsiders, though undoubtedly they have facilitators inside the city". "Jihadis from east and west, belonging to groups such as Ansar al-Islam and Ansar al-Sunnah, are targeting the city, trying to stoke civil war," he said. "But there's also a large element of former regime loyalists who don't want the city to succeed."

Nevertheless, he described himself as "guardedly optimistic" and offered rare praise for the province's security forces. "They are taking over more and more functions, leading operations, and performing more effectively without the scale of problems of corruption and disloyalty seen in other forces in Iraq ," he said. "We haven't seen death squads."

guardian co.uk

The former Iraqi president forced about 250,000 Kurdish residents to give up their homes to Arabs in the 1970s, to "Arabize" the city and the region's oil industry.

Kirkuk city is not under the full control of Kurdistan Regional Government administration. A referendum is to be held in late 2007 to decide whether the oil-rich Kurdish province should be annexed to the safe semiautonomous Kurdistan region in Iraq's north.

A form









Japan Seeks Oil Security in Iraq
Indonesia After Iran Setback
28/10/2006
Source: Bloomberg

Japan, dependent on imports for 99 percent of its oil and gas, may turn to Iraq and Indonesia after it lost control of Iran's biggest untapped field.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government promised this week to invest in Iraq's shattered energy industry in the hope that Japan will be able to tap the world's third-largest oil reserves. State-controlled Inpex Holdings Inc. may spend $4.2 billion to develop the Abadi gas field off Indonesia.

Iran's decision to strip Inpex of its majority holding in the Azedegan field has jeopardized plans to acquire overseas assets capable of meeting 40 percent of Japan's oil demand within 25 years. The country is competing for reserves with China and India as they try to meet soaring energy demand, bidding up the cost of assets.

``The fields that Japanese companies are currently invested in won't meet the target,'' said Lalita Gupta, an oil analyst at Morgan Stanley in Tokyo. ``It's not enough to invest in the fields, just thinking about the 40 percent target and overpaying for assets, they must have shareholder value.''

Japan, the world's largest oil importer after the U.S, needs to strengthen ties with oil-producing nations and give financial aid to Japanese explorers for developing overseas projects, the Trade Ministry's draft proposal on energy policy said on May 29.

Libya, Vietnam

Japanese oil and gas companies including Nippon Oil Corp. hold licenses to explore and develop deposits in countries including the U.S., Libya, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea and Canada.

Japan's government is lending Iraq $3.5 billion to finance three projects in southern Iraq aimed at helping the conflict- stricken country boost exports.

The yen-denominated loan will finance the redevelopment and upgrade of a refinery in Basra, improvements to oil export infrastructure and a project to produce liquefied petroleum gas, Shin Hosaka, director of the oil and gas division at the Trade Ministry, told reporters in Tokyo on Oct. 24.

``We don't want to miss a boat that leads to vast oil reserves in Iraq,'' Hosaka said. ``The next promising source of oil is Iraq.''

AOC Holdings Inc., a Japanese oil explorer and refiner, said on June 2 it had proposed a $3 billion plan to Iraq to upgrade war-torn oil export terminals. Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., the country's second-biggest oil explorer, has a contract with Iraq's oil ministry to assess four oilfields.

Peak Production

Oil production in Iraq peaked in December 1979 at 3.7 million barrels a day, according to the U.S. Energy Department. Iraq is producing almost 2.5 million barrels a day, Oil Minister, Hussain al- Shahristani said this week. That's close to output before the March 2003 invasion by a U.S.-led coalition.

Iraq, where insurgents have attacked pipelines and oil export terminals, plans to boost production to 4.5 million barrels a day by 2010, he said in Tokyo this week.

Inpex plans to drill four appraisal wells at the Abadi natural gas field next year, aiming to start production in 2015. Inpex is studying processing options including turning the Indonesian field's output into liquefied natural gas, spokesman Kazuya Honda said on Oct. 18.

The Abadi field, situated in the Timor Sea, may hold between 7 trillion and 10 trillion cubic feet of gas, Andrew Andrejewskis, Australia's Northern Territory's director of petroleum developments, said last year. Japan consumed 2.86 trillion cubic feet of gas in 2006, according to BP's Statistical Review of World Energy.

Sakhalin Threat

Developing Abadi including turning the field's gas into LNG may cost 500 billion yen ($4.2 billion) including a liquefaction plant in Australia, the Nihon Keizai newspaper said on Oct. 18.

At the same time, Japan's largest gas investment to date is under threat. The Royal Dutch Shell Plc-led Sakhalin-2 liquefied natural gas and oil project has been delayed after Russian authorities questioned the development's cost increase to $20 billion and its environmental impact.

Shell, based in The Hague, owns 55 percent of the Sakhalin- project, the largest foreign investment in Russia. Japanese trading company Mitsui & Co. holds 25 percent. Mitsubishi Corp., Japan's biggest trading company, owns 20 percent of the venture. OAO Gazprom is in talks with Shell and the two Japanese companies about acquiring a stake in the project.

On Oct. 8, Iran slashed Inpex Holdings Inc.'s stakes in Azadegan oilfield to 10 percent from 75 percent because the Japanese company delayed developing the field. Inpex, which hadn't managed to arrange financing for the project, blamed uncleared minefields in the area.

Inpex's loss of operator rights at Azadegan may not be bad for shareholders, Morgan Stanley's Gupta said. The terms governing the development of the oilfield wasn't economically attractive, she said.

``Its important for companies to think of net profit, shareholder value and quality of assets,'' she said.

Iraq recently progressed in its ongoing bid for accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) by submitting written responses to a host of questions raised by key members of the organization.

The questions focused on Iraq's agricultural regime, customs and tariff policies, privatization, intellectual property protection and enforcement, technical barriers to trade, as well as efforts to ensure good governance and fight corruption. The questions addressed the current state of affairs as well as future intentions of the Iraqi government in terms of regulatory and capacity-building reforms.

Since filing its application letter to join the world trade body in September 2004, the pace of Iraq's progress to date has matched and in some cases exceeded that of previously acceded countries.

The USAID-funded IZDIHAR project has contributed to this progress by providing training and technical assistance to Iraqi government officials focused on WTO accession. IZDIHAR worked with the ministries concerned and assisted in compiling and organizing the information needed for the responses.

Kurdistan: A conversation with the president of Iraq’s most successful region

10/28/2006 The Wall Street Journal Online
THE WEEKEND INTERVIEW

Kurdistan: A conversation with the president of Iraq's most successful region.

The Wall Street Journal Online, BY JUDITH MILLER
Saturday, October 28, 2006 12:01 a.m. EDT

ERBIL, Iraq--Unlike Baghdad, 200 miles away, the air here does not echo with the sound of gunfire, car bombs and helicopters. Residents of this city of a million people picnic by day in pristine new parks and sip tea with friends and relatives at night. American forces are not "occupiers" or the "enemy," but "liberators." Mentioning President Bush evokes smiles--and not of derision.

American forces were "most welcome" when stationed here at the start of the invasion of Iraq, says Massoud Barzani, the president of Kurdistan in the north. Not a single U.S. soldier was killed in his region, he adds proudly, "not even in a traffic accident." Would U.S. forces be welcome back now? "Most certainly," he declared this week in an interview in his newly minted marble (and heavily chandeliered) palace. The more American soldiers the better, a top aide confirms.

The secret of Kurdistan's relative success so far--and of America's enduring popularity here--is the officially unacknowledged fact that the three provinces of the Kurdish north are already quasi-independent. On Oct. 11, Iraq's parliament approved a law that would allow the Sunni and Shiite provinces also to form semi-autonomous regions with the same powers that the constitution has confirmed in Kurdistan. And while Kurdish leaders pay lip-service to President Bush's stubborn insistence on the need for a unified Iraq with a strong centralized government, Kurdistan is staunchly resisting efforts to concentrate economic control in Baghdad.

Read the rest of the interview: Kurdistan

Very long article but good

I am not sure if this was ever posted, So here it is.


On Oct. 10 the Parliament of Iraq passed a new investment law which opens the Iraqi economy to investors globally.

The new law provides foreign investors with adequate legal protection and with the ability to repatriate capital and profit. It offers opportunities to apply for significant exemptions from taxes and duties for 10 years and possibly longer, and it highlights the need to facilitate the process of obtaining necessary licenses and permits.

"It is great to have the new law, which gives us a clear frame and solid ground for promoting investment in Iraq," a senior official at the Iraq Investment Promotion Agency (IIPA) said.

"We are expecting positive reactions by foreign investors, who have been interested and enthusiastic about doing business in Iraq. It is very beneficial for our agency and for the country."

The agency was established early this year with the support of the USAID-funded IZDIHAR project, which has also provided substantial technical assistance and counseling in the preparation of this law.

In a significant institutional development, the law establishes the National Commission for Investment (NCI), attached to the Office of the Prime Minister and headed by a Chairman with the rank of minister. NCI will be responsible for overseeing and executing Iraq's investment policy.

Iraq News












Japan : Japan to provide Iraq with loans for refinery, fertilizer plant rehabilitation
Tuesday, October 24th 2006
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The Government of Japan has announced that it intends to provide up to 20,199 million yen in loans for Iraq's implementation of the Engineering Services for Basrah Refinery Upgrading Project and the Khor Al-Zubair Fertilizer Plant Rehabilitation Project.

According to Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the maximum amount to be provided for the Engineering Services for Basrah Refinery Upgrading Project will be 2,079 million yen, while 18,120 million yen will be designated for the Khor Al-Zubair Fertilizer Plant Rehabilitation Project.

The loan's terms and conditions are: an interest rate of 0.75 percent, a 40-year repayment period including a 10-year grace period and a general untied procurement method.

Engineering Services for Basrah Refinery Upgrading Project

"In Iraq, oil sector, which occupies almost 70 percent of its GDP and almost 90 percent of the national income, is the largest key industry. However, increase of consumers' demand for oil product during postwar reconstruction inflicted shortage of gasoline. This shortage is also caused by poor operation and maintenance of related facilities for oil products, resulting from conflicts including the Gulf War and from economic sanctions," the Ministry stated.

"Therefore, it is necessary to increase yield of oil products for consumers by constructing a new plant which will contribute to increasing the productivity in refining gasoline and other oil products in the existing Basrah Refinery."

The loan is intended for engineering services relating to the design and management of the new plant's construction.

Khor Al-Zubair Fertilizer Plant Rehabilitation Project

"Agriculture, an important industry of Iraq, accounts for about 10 percent of GDP and about 10 percent of all working population. Two factories are in operation for production of fertilizer which supports the Iraqi agriculture. However, the production of fertilizer is decreasing due to poor operation and maintenance of factories, resulting from conflicts including the Gulf War and from economic sanctions."

The Ministry stated that the Kohr Al-Zubair Fertilizer Plant in Basrah is dealing with decreasing production capacity as a result of the factory's dilapidated facilities.

"Therefore, it is crucial to supply the necessary machinery in urgent needs for the factory, in order to improve its production capacity and to recover productivity of agriculture therefrom."

Iraq: A sudden rise of the dollar exchange rate in Iraq
Posted on Friday, October 27 @ 16:54:15 PDT
Topic: Iraq
The dollar exchange rate varied between the Iraqi Central Bank and local markets, especially after the official auction to sell currencies stopped convening for ten days because of Eid al-Fitr.

The observers of the currency market confirmed that any occasion interposed by public holidays, specially those that continue for several days, is expected to raise the value of the American dollar against the Iraqi dinar but the difference is limited and does not exceed in the most serious cases 1500 dinars to the dollar, because such increases in the view of some speculators will be temporary, and they fear from the Iraqi Central Bank being a safety valve of the Iraqi dinar and market. If the Bank thought that the market rose, as the case happened a year and a half ago, it would suspend its vacation to begin offering large amounts of hard currency on the market directly and at prices lower than the circulation price; that is why most speculators are afraid to keep large quantities within their bags due to the risk of loss. But, dealing in the market is done on the basis of supply and demand; this means that small speculators, dealing directly with citizens, would achieve very high profits for this reason. And about their expectations of market prices, the observer demonstrated that the dollar exchange rate in the central auction, held in the Iraqi Central Bank, finally began to retreat before the Iraqi dinar, as the Bank started floating huge amounts of dollars because of the government's need for local cash, especially as the volume of government's consumption increased recently and this requires securing these expenses through the auction. The supply has increased lately from $ 35 million to $ 60 million per day.

The Bank started its daily auction with 1470 dinars to the dollar after being 1477. As for the markets, the dealers with citizen were not affected by the sudden decline but they would rush to raise their prices at the same moment with the increase; thus, it is expected for the demand to increase during these ten days, which would not be attended by the Iraqi Central Bank, but not much. About the last formal cession of the Bank, the auction manager there clarified that the sale price at which the auction came to was 1470 dinars to the dollar, accepted by the Bank, according to the buyers' desire and sold $ 43.8 million at the same prices. The quantity sold in cash to the Banks and its clients was $ 18.690 million at the price of 1470 with the addition of 11 points as prices contrast and profitability ratios, while the quantity sold for remittances to out of Iraq was $ 25 million, at 1470 dinars. This means that the amount of remittances surpassed the sale quantities of banks and this is due to the high demand for transfer, especially after the increased need to acquit the companies collaborating with the outside and the start of the reconstruction phase in Iraq.

Source: Asharq Al-Awsat

27 October 2006 (Asharq Alawsat)

The dollar exchange rate varied between the Iraqi Central Bank and local markets, especially after the official auction to sell currencies stopped convening for ten days because of Eid al-Fitr.

The observers of the currency market confirmed that any occasion interposed by public holidays, specially those that continue for several days, is expected to raise the value of the American dollar against the Iraqi dinar but the difference is limited and does not exceed in the most serious cases 1500 dinars to the dollar, because such increases in the view of some speculators will be temporary, and they fear from the Iraqi Central Bank being a safety valve of the Iraqi dinar and market. If the Bank thought that the market rose, as the case happened a year and a half ago, it would suspend its vacation to begin offering large amounts of hard currency on the market directly and at prices lower than the circulation price; that is why most speculators are afraid to keep large quantities within their bags due to the risk of loss. But, dealing in the market is done on the basis of supply and demand; this means that small speculators, dealing directly with citizens, would achieve very high profits for this reason. And about their expectations of market prices, the observer demonstrated that the dollar exchange rate in the central auction, held in the Iraqi Central Bank, finally began to retreat before the Iraqi dinar, as the Bank started floating huge amounts of dollars because of the government's need for local cash, especially as the volume of government's consumption increased recently and this requires securing these expenses through the auction. The supply has increased lately from $ 35 million to $ 60 million per day.

The Bank started its daily auction with 1470 dinars to the dollar after being 1477. As for the markets, the dealers with citizen were not affected by the sudden decline but they would rush to raise their prices at the same moment with the increase; thus, it is expected for the demand to increase during these ten days, which would not be attended by the Iraqi Central Bank, but not much. About the last formal cession of the Bank, the auction manager there clarified that the sale price at which the auction came to was 1470 dinars to the dollar, accepted by the Bank, according to the buyers' desire and sold $ 43.8 million at the same prices. The quantity sold in cash to the Banks and its clients was $ 18.690 million at the price of 1470 with the addition of 11 points as prices contrast and profitability ratios, while the quantity sold for remittances to out of Iraq was $ 25 million, at 1470 dinars. This means that the amount of remittances surpassed the sale quantities of banks and this is due to the high demand for transfer, especially after the increased need to acquit the companies collaborating with the outside and the start of the reconstruction phase in Iraq.

Okay I have looked thru the last ten pages of posts and I am still confused, HAS the FIL been enacted?

The Iraqi investment law at a glance
22 October 2006 (LawkSalih.com)

The Iraqi investment law approved by the Iraqi parliament in its session on 10 October 2006 will come into effect after its approval by the president and its publication in the Iraqi Official Gazette. It will regulate the national and foreign investment process in Iraq.

Judge Dr. Wa'il Abd Al-Latif, legal expert, MP and deputy head of the Legal Committee, outlines for Niqash the most important points in the law.

Privileges and Guarantees Offered to Investors:

1. Taking out the capital brought into Iraq with its revenues in hard currency
2. Dealing with the Iraqi securities market
3. Leasing land needed for the project or using it on condition that the term does not exceed a period of 50 years that can be renewed
4. Insuring the investment project at any national or foreign insurance company
5. Opening accounts in Iraqi or foreign currency or both at Iraqi banks or at banks outside Iraq
6. Obtaining residency and facilitating investors’ entry to Iraq and leaving Iraq
7. Non-confiscation or nationalization of the investment project
8. Non-Iraqi workers have the right to transfer their salaries and indemnities outside Iraq
9. Exemption from fees and taxes for ten years beginning with the date of starting the project. This period is renewable. Also, furniture and assets needed for expanding and modernizing the project are exempt.

Investors’ Commitments:

1. Informing the commission of the date of starting work on the project
2. Maintaining accurate book-keeping checked by an authorized lawyer
3. Presenting economic and technical feasibility studies with all the maps related to the project
4. Keeping a record of imported materials, protecting the environment, and commitment to qualitative control systems
5. Complying with Iraqi laws and the action plan methodology presented by investors

Areas of investment

The law opened all areas of investment before Iraqi and foreign investors except:

1. Investment in the field of extracting and producing oil and gas
2. Investment in the sectors of banks and insurance companies
3. Land cannot be owned except for housing projects. It can be owned by Iraqis as separate units; otherwise, it is given for a period of fifty years, which is renewable.

Investment Commissions in Iraq

The law stipulates the formation of two commissions in Iraq:

1. The National Commission for Investment: It is a legal entity managed by a board comprised of nine members who have had a minimum of ten years of experience and specialization and who hold university degrees. The commission will be responsible for the formulation of the national policy for investment, the development of plans and controls, and monitors the application of controls. It exclusively specializes in federal investment projects. The government nominates its head on the level of a minister and a deputy head on the level of an undersecretary. Both will be approved by the parliament for a period of five years. The board also has four members on the level of general managers and three representatives from the private sector chosen by the prime minister.
2. Commissions in regions and governorates. Since the federal structure in Iraq has been approved through the law on the formation of regions, which then will enjoy legislative, executive, and judicial powers, the investment law has provided for the establishment of commissions in federal regions. Governorates which are not organized as regions enjoy financial and administrative powers, and thus the law has regulated the right of formation of investment commissions in governorates as well.

The commissions in regions and governorates have powers to grant investment licenses, encourage investment, and open branches in areas under their jurisdiction in consultation with the national commission and in accordance with this law.

Each of those commissions is comprised of seven members who have a minimum of seven years of experience and specialization. The regions’ commissions are coupled to the prime ministers of the regions, and the governorate commissions are linked to the governors and monitored by the respective governorate council. The law authorizes regions and governorates to form these commissions, which draw up investment plans in such a way that does not contradict the federal investment plans.

The law allows governorates and regions to exercise their role in encouraging investment as the national commission will be limited to the role of federal investments only and thus not take over the role for investment in the regions and governorates.

The national commission has a special budget. It has to deal with license applications within 45 days. It also has to facilitate granting licenses and use electronic correspondence.

Evaluation

The new investment law will surely make a big qualitative change in the Iraqi economy by means of incoming capital and foreign experience, which will contribute to establishing the basic infrastructure of the Iraqi economy. Iraq suffers from lack of capital available for reconstruction and development due to the accumulation of loans as well as lack of experience due to ongoing wars. This law will immensely help in meeting this need.

The Iraqi federal budget is derived to 93-95% from the proceeds of crude oil. These proceeds are spent on the subsidies for the ration cards, low fuel prices, the social welfare system, as well as the salaries and wages of workers in the Iraqi state. The remainder is not enough to realistically rebuild in Iraq an infrastructure that needs hundreds of billions, which are not readily available according to the reality of the Iraqi state that owes more than 130 billion dollars to the rest of the world, and on the other hand we cannot boost the state through the small projects that cannot achieve sustainable development. And thus, like many countries in the world, it must resort to investment.

The Iraqi economic infrastructure has been destroyed over more than 25 years since the beginning of the Iraq-Iran War in 1980. With the increase of its population Iraq may become an economic machine that will not stop for fifty years in the areas of services, housing, economy, agriculture, and commerce. This law will enable this progress by means of establishing a secure environment for investment.

That the investment law establishes the basic rules for the investor with guarantees and protection is a very good step in the field of investment, although the land problem remained unresolved or at least not in the way that we want it to be where the investor could own property except for the housing projects which are to be owned by Iraqis. In our opinion this is a tautology as every Iraqi has under the constitutional right to own property, reside and travel in any region of Iraq.

More than nine governorates, in addition to Iraqi Kurdistan, have a secure environment for investment. The growth and development of these governorates will create an incentive for governorates which lack security to seek to create a secure environment. Surely the economy, through investment, will contribute to achieving security in the country.

Source: Niqash