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

Originally Posted by crave681

recovered from the dark side's jpmonopoly: RIGZONE - Iraqi Leaders Still Wrangling Over Hydrocarbon Law

Senior Iraqi officials are still wrangling over the country's oil and gas law that would set out the legal framework for the Baghdad government to sign production-sharing agreement contracts with foreign companies to develop its vast oil reserves, officials said.
They said that there were still differences among federal government officials and those of regions, particularly the Kurdistan Regional Government on some provisions that could delay the issuance of the law for months.

If I recall correctly they resolved this weeks ago. It was posted in several articles. The regions(Kurdistan) would have the right to make there own deals and submit them to GOI (Bagdad) for final approval. If GOI had any serious problems with the contracts, etc. they would go to some committee (being set up) for evaluation. That was the jest of it from what I recall. Maybe some of our Dinar Divas can pull the needed posts up from the history file. The President of Kurdistan had many meetings awhile back to resolve this and they went back and forth for a while until it got squared away. I think it is done and this is a rehash.

Originally Posted by Par77

If I recall correctly they resolved this weeks ago. It was posted in several articles. The regions(Kurdistan) would have the right to make there own deals and submit them to GOI (Bagdad) for final approval. If GOI had any serious problems with the contracts, etc. they would go to some committee (being set up) for evaluation. That was the jest of it from what I recall. Maybe some of our Dinar Divas can pull the needed posts up from the history file. The President of Kurdistan had many meetings awhile back to resolve this and they went back and forth for a while until it got squared away. I think it is done and this is a rehash.

not everyone is privy to as fresh of information as rolclub is.

speaking of which, can anyone in canada either confirm or deny that there is no dinar to be had in canada now??

Sorry guys, This is a new issue. The article says they resolved certain issues (the ones I was referring to) but there are a couple of new ones that seem to have come up with the PSA's. I should have read the article and not jumped to conclusions...it's late and I am off to bed. I am sure they have not come this far to not get it done now!

Nite all

Originally Posted by shotgunsusie

not everyone is privy to as fresh of information as rolclub is.

speaking of which, can anyone in canada either confirm or deny that there is no dinar to be had in canada now??

I picked some up today at Bank of Nova Scotia and they didn't say anything to me about supplies. I ordered on Friday and they arrived yesterday.

Sure, I can give the Scotia Bank where I get my Dinar from a ring in the morning & let you know if it's still available, They order it from B of A.

Originally Posted by robinhoodof sherwoodpark

Sure, I can give the Scotia Bank where I get my Dinar from a ring in the morning & let you know if it's still available, They order it from B of A.

thank you! as i said it was another pm sent me and i like to confirm the information from at least one person.

...I also heard TODAY that banks in Canada have stopped selling DINAR, but yesterday they were
selling.

Sorry if this has already been posted!!!!!


Task Force helps revitalize Iraq's industries
09/01/2007
Source: United States Army

A team of 25 industrial leaders and business analysts is headed to Iraq today to join 35 others already there working to get almost 200 idle Iraqi factories up and running.

The industrial revitalization initiative is part of a sweeping plan to get Iraqis back to work, restore their livelihoods and jump-start Iraq's economic base, Paul Brinkley, deputy undersecretary of defense for business transformation, told Pentagon reporters yesterday.

Brinkley said the effort has another equally important objective: to ensure that Iraqis don't turn to terrorism simply because they see no other way to feed their families.

Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, commander of Multinational Corps Iraq, told reporters in Baghdad last month there's strong evidence that rampant unemployment is fueling the insurgency. He pointed to the example of a former factory worker who had turned to planting improvised explosive devices for the insurgency so he could feed and care for his family.

Reopening industries and improving job satisfaction among Iraqis would go a long way toward neutralizing the forces giving rise to sectarian violence, Chiarelli told reporters.

"Putting young men and middle-aged men to work would have a tremendous impact on this level of violence we're seeing in and around Baghdad and also in the other provinces," he said.

Operating under the auspices of the Task Force for Improved Business and Stability Operations in Iraq, DoD and other U.S. agencies, Iraqi officials and the corporate world are working to reopen 193 industrial operations once owned by the Iraqi government.

These businesses, which have sat idle since Saddam Hussein's fall in 2003, once employed 10 percent of the Iraqi population, Brinkley said. But their impact on the Iraqi economy was even greater, because private-sector companies provided goods and services to the government-run factories. So when the factories closed their doors, the private companies' customer bases dried up and they, too, were forced to close.

The U.S. government's economic effort in Iraq initially focused on reconstruction, with an assumption that Iraq's private sector would eventually take over the idle government-owned businesses, Brinkley explained. But that never happened.

So the Task Force for Improved Business and Stability Operations in Iraq, which was working to improve DoD contracting operations in Iraq, shifted its focus in May to stepping up the process.

"We quickly came to the conclusion that we had a huge near-idle industrial base, that, reengaged, could put a lot of people back to work and restore normalcy to a sizeable amount of the population," Brinkley said. "So we immediately embarked on turning that industrial base back on."

Initial plans call for opening the first 10 factories quickly, with the estimated $5 million in start-up costs to be paid by the Iraqi government, he said.

Many of those 10 companies, which provide goods and services ranging from building materials to industrial products to clothing and textiles to drugs and medical supplies, are expected to open within the next six months, Brinkley said.

"Our expectation is that every month in 2007, we should be putting thousands of Iraqis back to work across the country," he said. "And if we do that, we will create a whole cascading series of beneficial impacts."

The challenges the task force faces are enough to stump even the most visionary Harvard Business School graduate.

"The work involved is (a) hard, roll-up-your sleeves" effort that requires getting on factory floors with plant mangers to determine what's needed to get it restarted, Brinkley said. "What are the constraints? Does it have supply? Does it have customers? Are the customers ready to buy things? If they don't have customers, how can we generate demand for them? Do they have working capital? Are the ministries ready to infuse working capital into the operation? Those are all the things you deal with in business."

Task force members are rotating into Iraq two weeks out of every month to address these issues and help get the factories running.

"What we are doing is assessing these factories," Brinkley said. "We are bringing in expertise. We are bringing international industry to bear to create demand for these factories."

But Brinkley emphasized that the goal is for the Iraqi government, not the United States, to fund the effort. "We want this to have an Iraqi face. This is Iraq's industry," Brinkley said. "And we want Iraq to be involved in getting it restarted, and they are extremely supportive of this."

Once the factories are opened, Brinkley said the U.S. military will contract with them as much as possible for goods and services supporting U.S. military operations in Iraq. Most of this business, which amounts to about $4 billion a year, currently goes to companies outside Iraq.

This will enable the United States to continue supporting its deployed troops in a way that reduces the logistical burden but also stimulates economic growth in Iraq, he said.

"We've set a collective objective that we would like to see 25 percent of that $4 billion flowing into the Iraqi economy within a year," he said.

As this effort moves forward, Brinkley acknowledged that newly reopened factories have the potential to become terrorist targets. Task force members, however, are optimistic that newly reemployed local workers will help prevent violence that threatens their livelihoods.

Brinkley noted that even in the most violent areas of Iraq, many of the empty factories went untouched by insurgents and looters alike. In some cases, new equipment, computers and inventory remained in place, a sign, he said, that local leaders protected them against damage or theft because they recognized their value to the community.


"That's a good story because what we think is chaotic is actually controlled," he said. "Somebody has made it clear, 'Don't touch that factory.' That's a good sign. We can get that factory turned back on."

This initial effort will have "a huge cascading effect" in Iraq, where a single breadwinner supports 13 other people. By comparison, the average U.S. worker supports four people, he said.

Ultimately, Brinkley said economic progress in Iraq will help drive other forms of progress forward. Reopening factories isn't the full answer, he said, but it is an important part of the overall strategy for success. "It's a piece of the puzzle," he said.

When Iraqis have the opportunity to return to their jobs and provide for their families, no longer will terrorism appear to be their only financial option, he said. When this happens, "an insurgent (will) become a zealot, not just someone trying to make a living," he said.

http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=2911

Seems to me this has been are thoughts all along.

Dinar-Excited

Iraqi News
Tuesday, January 09, 2007 US to reoperate 200 abandoned facilities in Iraq
(MENAFN) The American Defense Department has initiated a campaign to reoperate about 200 factories and facilities in Iraq, which were owned by the former regime and abandoned after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, the Associated Press reported. A pentagon official said that one factory was reopened recently, and nine more are to open by the end of this month, providing jobs for 11,000 Iraqis. He added that this move aims to provide long-term employment to Iraqis, unlike previous ones that came with short-term jobs along with individual rebuilding projects. Deputy Undersecretary of Defense, who is responsible for business modernization efforts, said in a recent interview that providing jobs to unemployed Iraqis could lower the level of unrest among them. He pointed out that the American military will be among the major customers for some of the restarted facilities. According to the U.N. and the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, unemployment rate is between 20 and 40 percent with inflation above 50 percent. They also added that more than 1.5 million Iraqis, mostly professionals, have left the war-torn country. It is worth mentioning that the average Iraqi worker supports 13 people, compared to the average American worker who supports 4.
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News Archives

Sorry if this has already been posted!!!!

Iraq's economic strides
09/01/2007
Source: The Washington Times

Did you know that Iraqi real-estate prices have gone up several hundred percent since the fall of Saddam Hussein?
That Iraqi workers' salaries have increased more than 100 percent in that time?

That the number of cars in violence-torn Baghdad has grown by 500 percent in the same period?
That the Iraqi construction, retail and wholesale trade sectors are all growing at a healthy pace?
Chances are that you are astonished by these facts. I certainly was when I read them in an article by Silvia Spring in the end-of-the-year edition of Newsweek International.
The piece is titled "Iraq's Economy is Booming" and it's a revelation. It goes on to mention that the number of registered businesses has increased from 8,000 to 34,000 in three years; that the number of cell phone subscribers has increased from 1.4 million to 7.1 million; that the stores are stocked with goods, and that consumers are buying them; that taxes have been cut, government revenues are up and that oil revenues and foreign grants are estimated at $41 billion for the year just ended.
Moreover, "Iraq's official economic institutions are making progress," the Kurdish region in the north is booming and with the oil fields in the south increasingly secure, oil production revenues are projected to grow substantially. The Global Insight firm,which tracks international economic activity, estimates Iraq's GDP growth at 17 percent for 2005 and projected 13 percent for 2006. The World Bank's estimate is lower (four percent for 2006), but the fact that there is any economic growth at all in Iraq will come as a shock to most people.

The article does not gloss over the country's many problems-- the raging sectarian violence foremost among them. Unemployment is estimated at a minimum of 30 percent, but even here there is a silver lining as foreign investment from neighboring countries is pouring into Iraq because of cheap labor. The author notes that "there is a vibrancy at the grassroots that is invisible in most international coverage of Iraq."
You can say that again.
It is understandable (if deplorable) that the "mainstream" media (with the honorable exception of Newsweek International) would be unaware of these facts or uninterested in publicizing them.
But what about the Bush administration? Why has the Bush team not put on a full-court press to inform the public about these signs of progress in Iraq?
The American people are, understandably, demoralized by three and a half years of largely negative media coverage of Iraq. Most do not want a pullout from Iraq, however; they want victory.
But a daily digest of media coverage focused on American casualties and sectarian carnage in Baghdad is gradually leading the public to conclude that there is no hope of success in Iraq. The economic news coming out of Iraq does give real cause for hope, however.
It is a matter of the greatest urgency that President Bush -- and his administration -- inform the American people about Iraq's economic strides. The president's upcoming policy address on Iraq is the logical place to begin!!!!!!!

http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=2910

Dinar-Excited

Universities Launch Major Training Initiative on International Auditing Standards with Support from Professional Association

9 January 2007 - Ten universities in Iraq, in collaboration with seven local chapters of Iraq’s leading professional association for accounting professionals, are launching a major education initiative to introduce International Auditing Standards to Iraq. Approximately 800 students and accountants throughout Iraq will participate in the seminar over a two month period beginning early January 2007.

The professional association, a full member of the International Federation of Accountants and known throughout the region for the capacity-building services it provides to members, is helping to raise the standards of the accounting profession in Iraq while contributing to its own sustainability by organizing seminars and professional networking opportunities throughout the country.

The seminar on Auditing Methods, Methodology and Standards will consist of 20 sessions – three per week - totaling 60 hours of education. The training is equivalent to a college level class and is fully compliant with international education standards established by both the United Nations and the International Federation of Accountants. In addition to lectures and discussions, participants will be equipped with an “auditor’s toolkit” that includes audit programs, internal control questionnaires and other tools to assist them in professional auditing practices.

The training initiative builds on previous activities developed by the USAID-funded IZDIHAR project in co-operation with universities and the professional association. The courses will be delivered and overseen by professors who are graduates of the “Training of Trainers” activities organized by the project and follows on the successful completion of a course on International Accounting Standards attended by 429 students from eight universities.

The growing capacity of Iraqi universities to provide up-to-date accounting curricula and the widening circle of Iraqi accounting professionals familiar with international accounting and auditing standards is part of a sustained effort to improve the business environment in Iraq, expand the private sector and create new jobs.