Thread: Latest News - Iraqi Dinar Think Tank - Discussion

Iraqis’ per capita income to shoot to $9000 in 2014

Per capita income in Iraq will surge to $9000 from the current $4000 in 2014, the Central Bank says.

The new per capita income forecast means that Iraqis’ living standards are expected to more than double in less than four years.

The promising economic prediction for the war-torn country is a rare good piece of news.

“The per capita income will more than double by the end of the investment plan in 2014” said Mudher Saleh, a Central Bank consultant.
Saleh put the country’s growth rate at a little more than 9 per cent and said his figure was based “on the aggregate growth forecast for 2014-2014.”

If Iraq achieves the growth rate predicted for the investment plan, the country will see an explosion in income, he said.
There will be enough income to finance infrastructure projects in various fields, he said.

Saleh said the country’s bloated civil service sector was currently among the most prosperous in the country.

He said while average per capita income was $4000, civil servants earned an average of $6000 a year.

Oil revenues, he said, would still make the lion’s share of the country’s income.

“The importance of oil royalties in financing investment projects is of vital importance,” he said. “Maximizing oil earnings is the philosophy the oil sector is pursuing to provide steady access to resources to finance the national development plant.”

http://www.azzaman.com/english/index...07-26\kurd.htm

Senior banker calls for the activation of the reality of the work of private banks

With the continued central bank reforms BAGHDAD - Hussein Tgb Tamimi continue to put forward ideas and proposals for promoting the private sector, and its role during the phase of economic transformation taking place in Iraq, to become oriented economic action as a whole, as happens in democratic countries, especially in the private banking sector, which is calling for a bigger role in the economic field.

Banking expert sword Hilfi stressed that private banks are able to promote economic reality in all sectors, if there was appropriate working environment, pointing to the ability of these banks to fund projects that advance the services provided to citizens, as well as rotate the wheel of production in the private and public enterprises, through funding provided to these projects, especially projects that belong to the public sector and implemented by the private sector, although there are determinants of the law.

And he said in an interview (morning) that the private banks can finance large projects, the country desperately in need , including the housing projects as well as draft power giant, as happens in countries of the world, indicating that these banks provide the 10-15 service to the citizens.

Hilfi called on to provide legislation that suit of private banking, as well as suspension of a law of private banks, and modify most of the paragraphs in particular article 28, which determines its next to universal banking, and prevent these banks that the interference in the financing of major projects extractive urban and commercial, but allows investment banking, loans, facilities, and this limits its ambition to serve the largest economic projects by entering into projects, an investment partner.

He noted that the country is entering a phase of investment and large, require advancement in fact banking on a global basis, and this needs to government effort to achieve interaction between the two sides for the advancement of banking operations, stating that the policy of the central bank moving towards the activation of the reality of the work of private and public banks in preparation for the stage of economic and wide.

He said among the obstacles that affect the operation of banks not to allow deposits of government departments in private banks, even though the assets of the efficiency and scientific expertise in the field of banking, noting that the coming stage will witness the adoption of electronic payment systems, both instruments were coded, or pay by Alvezkart and other systems.

And integrate banking, said: This is the topic step successful accept by the Central Bank is working to raise their capital to (250) billion for the existence of banks can not reach this figure, fall to the adoption of the integration step banking.

In the position of lifting of the zeroes between Hilfi that the next phase did not need to This step is difficult, because the country began to receive international capital, and these need to monetary stability within the country, especially as the investment morphological became entering the country by the Iraqi market for securities, and this leads us to consider mechanisms to provide the right environment to attract capital to Iraq.

Concluded Hilfi saying: that the next phase of the local economy in dire need of economic policies to the Council, regulates the reality of the economic sectors on the next phase of work and wide, and draws a discreet steps of economic action.

http://www.alsabaah.com/ArticleShow.aspx?ID=11196

A New Iraq or Perspective Updated?

A New Iraq or Perspective Updated: First Mover Advantage?

Sipping my iced coffee at Costa, a coffee shop in Erbil, I (and everyone else at the coffee house) noticed with insouciance a group of young American soldiers walk in for some caffeine and presumably an outing. The sighting of American soldiers (dressed in uniform) is rare in Northern Iraq, and especially in Erbil, putatively safe and referred to as the gateway to Iraq. I pondered on this seemingly mundane event and it occurred to me that this may be my first ‘encounter’ with Americans in Erbil since Ideas sYnergy’s establishment in early 2011.

Through my last couple months in this city as an independent expatriate (as in not living within a walled community/compound with security protocols), I have come across a range of foreign entrepreneurs who have gone ‘local’: Lebanese, Turkish, Italians, Germans, French and British, some restaurateurs, others event managers, traders, company owners etc however I have yet to meet an American who lives and conducts business outside the walls of compounds. This is not to say there aren’t any, but rather to point to its’ low probability. In the same vein, recent article pointed out that U.S. companies have been slow to get in on the investment opportunities in Iraq, even lagging behind countries that opposed the war in 2003, such as France. According to the article, U.S. companies tend to be more risk averse than their European counterparts, despite continuous urgings by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The media in the U.S. contributes to this quagmire. An Iraqi friend living in the U.S. expressed his surprise at a recent National Public Radio (NPR) feature on Iraq’s Kurdistan, to the extent he felt the region under discussion was perhaps wrongly referred to as KRG.

U.S. businesses are asked to shed their heterodox ideas of Iraq and capitalize on the investment opportunities created through its’ government’s blood and treasure. Iraq Insights’ June Issue reported that U.S. commercial activity is touted to increase after the conclusion of the Business Forum: Promoting Economic Opportunities in Iraq held in Washington, D.C. And indeed U.S. commercial interest is growing: Iraq’s commercial attaché office in Washington received 2,251 applications to do business in Iraq in the first half of this year, compared with 1,369 in the same period last year. Although U.S. commercial activity in Iraq ranked fifth at $1,997 million in 2010 (compared to Turkey’s $14,883 and France’s $4,243) as per a report by Dunia Frontiers, independent American expatriates conducting business in Iraq complain of their government’s lack of support, even of the simplest nature such as business introductions and linkages. For U.S. businesses to capitalize on opportunities in Iraq, and partake in Iraq’s economic growth as a business partner, its government will have to do much more (the upcoming August issue of Iraq Insights, a flagship monthly publication of Ideas sYnergy, will compare investment promotion strategies of foreign governments in Iraq) . The recent opening of U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Basra, and soon in Erbil is a welcome respite.

T. Keyzom Ngodup is co-founder and Executive Director at Ideas sYnergy, an Iraq based development consulting company committed to economic and social development through market-based solutions that help build and scale innovative businesses for sustainable and inclusive private sector development

http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2011/07/28/a-new-iraq-or-perspective-updated-first-mover-advantage/

Go Elephant Hunting in Iraq

Despite news of increasing security problems, Iraq has attracted as much new investment (in terms of deals announced) in the first half of this year as it did in all of 2010.

And the raw figures are impressive; according to Dunia Frontier Consultants, $42 billion was attracted to Iraq last year, with $45 billion announced so far this year.

As Gulf Keystone‘s John Gerstenlauer said last week:

“Everybody loves to go elephant hunting. Why go after small game when you can shoot something big?”

Hunting big game was never easy, of course, and so it is with business in Iraq. Being ranked 166th out of 183 countries in the World Bank‘s “Doing Business 2011” survey tells its own story.

But that’s the nature of investment in challenging environments – you do get extra points for difficulty. In the last seven months, the stewards of $45 billion said it was worth the effort, and you can be sure that more deals will follow.

Will your business be part of that new economy?

http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/201...nting-in-iraq/

Iraq will yield to international pressures - MP

Al-Iraqiya bloc's spokesperson Maysoon al-Damalouji expressed her expectations that Iraq will yield to international jurisdiction on improving the humanistic side of Iranian opposition Ashraf Camp residents, pointing out that "the case does not need to punish them."

In a statement issued by her office, as received by Aswat al-Iraq, she added that the decision made by the Spanish court on the killings that took place in the camp had its impact on the political arena here.

"The Iraqi government will retreat from its stand due to international pressures," the statement added.

Media reports noted that on 15 July, 2011, the Spanish court agreed to investigate the suit filed against the Iraqi officials for killing 36 camp members and injuring 350.

According to the court summon papers, Iraqi premier Nouri al-Maliki was among them, who could be called to the court whenever he leaves his present post and deprived of his privileges.

http://en.aswataliraq.info/Default1....&id=144011&l=1

Foreign Investors Flock to Iraq

By David Rosenberg, for The Media Line

It was just another day in Iraq on July 15.

In the city of Kerbaba; two car bombs killed a total of seven people and wounded 19. An American solider was killed in Baghdad while in another part of the capital an Iraqi policeman was injured by a sticky bomb placed under a vehicle. More bombs wounded soldiers in Samarra and in Mosul.

But July 15 also saw the grand re-opening Baghdad’s renowned Al-Rasheed Hotel after a $65 million renovation. Britain’s Harlow International undertook the construction work while Holland’s Kempinski Hotel group will manage it.

“The rebuilding of infrastructure, including palaces and airports, is evidence of the ability of Iraqis to achieve what they want,” Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Even as Iraq suffers an upsurge of violence – June alone saw 155 civilians killed in attacks, the most since January – foreign investors are flocking to the country. Dunia Frontier Consultants, a Washington DC-based consulting firm, estimates that foreigners were responsible for $45.6 billion in investments, service contracts and other business in Iraq in the first half of the year. That was double the amount the same time in 2010.

Where others see carnage, chaos and corruption, investors see a potentially oil-rich economy whose population of some 30 million is desperate for housing, roads, consumer products and services.

“What you have is a country that produces oil, which makes it very attractive for the hydrocarbon industry to invest there. It’s a country with a very large population,” Daniel Broby, chief investment officer at London’s Silk Invest, told The Media Line. “The middle class suffered a lot of problems but they are educated and there is a lot of home ownership, so banking and telecommunications industries are very attractive for foreign investment.”

Driven by high energy prices, Iraq’s economy will grow 12.5% this year, according to the International Monetary Fund. Iraq’s Oil Ministry said in June alone petroleum brought in $7.17 billion as exports averaged 2.273 million barrels a day at an average price of more than $105 a barrel.

With the government’s coffers swelling, Planning Minister Ali Al-Shukri told Reuters on Monday Iraq is looking to raise its 2012 investment budget by 50% to as much as 60 trillion Iraqi dinars ($51 billion).

Iraq’s oil and gas sector drives the Iraqi economy, but residential real estate is the biggest target for foreign investors. According to the Dunia report, it accounted for a third of all foreign commercial activity last year. Iraq has a shortfall of 1.6 million homes. Transportation infrastructure was next followed by electricity and manufacturing.

“A lot of the money going in is going into things as a result of the Iraq’s oil business,” said the editor of Iraq Business News, a portal dedicated to keeping foreigners abreast of business in the country. The site was launched in February 2010 and since then the number of subscribers to its weekly newsletter has jumped to 9,000 from 3,000.

“The bulk of the deals announced are in real estate,” he told The Media Line. “So much needs to be done there in terms of infrastructure. The government plans to build one million homes financed by oil revenues … Then you’ve got other stuff related to that, shopping malls and so on.”

The revival of the Al-Rasheed is only one example of how Iraq is turning into an investment magnet – and how investors have to take special precautions to make sure their business ventures literally don’t blow up in their faces.

In Al-Rasheed’s case, the hotel is situated in the Green Zone, an area that once served as the U.S. military’s Baghdad headquarters and is now favored by foreign business people and other visitors because it is cordoned off by concrete walls to protect it against attacks.

Business people coming to Iraq have to take unusual measures to ensure their personal safety and that of their property.

Businesses that can keep assets out of Iraq usually do, although the government is trying to bring an end to the practice, say investment advisers. One company with a franchise to import vehicles, keep the cars parked in a lot in neighboring Kuwait and deliver them to its Iraqi customers once the price is paid in cash. Except for relatively peaceful Kurdistan, a semiautonomous region in the north, even a single expatriate will travel in a convoy of three or four vehicles.

“Security costs are a major deterrent,” T. Keyzom Ngodup, executive director of Ideas sYnergy, an Iraq-based consulting company, told The Media Line. “An organization or project that has maybe 14-20 expats in a quarantined compound may have security costs of about $300,000 per month.”

The World Bank says Iraq is one of the world’s worst countries to do business. It ranked Iraq 166th out of 183 economies for “ease of doing business,” an assessment that includes dealing with construction permits, protecting investors, enforcing contracts and registering a property. It ranks 175th out of 178 for corruption.

And Iraq’s chronic violence may yet push it off the business cliff. General Lloyd Austin, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq said earlier this month, the failure to curb bombings and attacks by militia groups and insurgents in Iraq could spark a flight of foreign investment. The U.S. is now schedule to remove the last of its forces by the end of the year.

“These violent criminal elements if left unchecked will create an environment that forces foreign investors to pull out of the country …. Violence and economic prosperity cannot co-exist,” Austin said.

But the opening of the Al-Rasheed is also an example of how for now at least the wheels of business are gradually starting to turn in Iraq.

Airlines have begun flying to the country – a prerequisite for hotel development – both by Middle East-based carriers such as Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways as well as those outside the region, such as Austrian Airlines and Lufthansa. As a result, hotel chains such as Rotana, Safir, Best Western, Swiss-Belhotel International and Millennium & Copthorne are coming to Iraq. Global chains have signaled they will be following.

Strangely enough, the U.S. has been slow to pick up on the new-found interest in Iraq, even though its forces led the coalition that toppled Saddam Hussein. Last year, it accounted for just 4.7% of all foreign commercial activity in Iraq, behind Turkey, Italy, France and South Korea.

Ngodup said the U.S. lost its “first-mover advantage” by failing to give enough support to visiting executives. There is no American-Iraqi Chamber of Commerce and other countries provide more consular support. Another deterrent is the country’s fearsome reputation for violence, said the editor of Iraq Business News.

Turkey, the No. 1 investor, in Iraq, has focused on relatively tranquil Kurdistan, but it has gradually started to move south into the rest of Iraq, especially as the southern port of Basra has become an investment epicenter.

“You have to be comfortable with the risk and in that respect the Turks are comfortable,” said Silk Invest’s Brody. “They are much closer geographically.”

http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/201...flock-to-iraq/

CBI begins assessment of private banks throughout the country

Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Iraq, Saturday, the Bank began to assess the work of 27 private banks throughout the country. The appearance of Mohammed Saleh told the Kurdish news agency (Rn) that "the Iraqi Central Bank began to assess the performance of 27 private banks in accordance with system CAMEL, which depends on capital and Assets, deposit, liquidity and banking services provided by private banks. "

He added that the "inspection department field in the Directorate General of the banking and credit control will take on the responsibility for evaluation and follow up the performance of private banks, which get a grade 1, it means the highest level of its ability to provide banking services."

He pointed out that the "degree of 2 means the value of banking is very good and the degree and 2B and the degree of 2B1 a little very good score and grades 4A and 4C and 4C2 means alone and needs to review its performance."

And said the Iraqi Central Bank in July 6 that 20 banks and a special work began according to the electronic clearing system, stressing that there are efforts to introduce government banks in this system. and the World Bank allocated 10 million Dolarlaadh restructuring of banks, Iraqi government and the activation of their transactions online.

And announced earlier in the unit re-Hiklhalmassarv Iraq had been extended and unit banks for a period of one year because of concerns security. Iraq had decided in early 2006 and the restructuring of banks in order to get rid of the heavy debt.

The Ministry of Finance of Iraq for its efforts over the next year to develop an integrated plan for the development of banks, e-government and the activation of financial relations in this aspect. The Iraqi government is still limited in its dealings Finance approved by the government banks by 85%. and called on the Ministry of Finance earlier in the Iraqi Central Bank to take firm action in granting licenses for the establishment of private banks.

http://www.aknews.com/ar/aknews/2/254358/

Iraq: the formation of a higher committee to resolve banking problems that hinder the work of the electricity companies

The Director of the Information Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for energy affairs Hussein al-Shahristani, today, Saturday, the formation of a committee consisting of the legal, financial, legislative and commercial bank and finance ministry to speed up the account opening bank credit for global companies that implement the electricity projects.

said Faisal Abdullah, a Kurdish news agency (Rn) that "the legal, financial, legislative and commercial bank and the Ministry of Finance and the advisers will work to develop a list of new controls to speed up the account opening bank credit for global companies that implement the electricity projects."

He added that "electricity projects face obstacles to banking related delay open credit accounts in international banks that deal with Iraq." He said, "facilitate the opening of bank credit by the Commission will contribute to addressing the obstacles that stand to delay the completion of power projects in the next phase." said Energy Commission representative yesterday, Friday, agreed with the Ministry of Electricity and oil processing 24 hours a day of electricity in 2013.

The Iraqi electricity minister, had complained last Thursday during hosted by the Chamber of Deputies with the deputy Prime Minister Hussein Shahristani, Oil Minister Abdul-Karim and coffee from a lack of fuel and concern for the ministry provided and distributors of production is certain that Altgiz formal continuous for each province, 8 hours per day, or Okther hour or two as he had asked Parliament to provide treatment to open credit accounts in international banks.

And Akhosralarac 1000 MW of electricity because of overtaking on the system Electrical. He said experts on energy that the poor distribution is the main reason behind the deterioration of electric power in the country. The Ministry of the Federal Electricity for it had agreed with the Iranian side to raise the level of electric power from Iran through the line "Krkh - Building" to 400 MW.

The ministry revealed earlier that the projects to set up gas stations designed to produce 7150 MW into the system in 2013. and suggested the Ministry of the Federal Electricity at the beginning of this month stopped a number of power stations due to the arrival of the fuel necessary to run saying it formed a committee to provide fuel for power stations during the summer.

According to experts, the country needs an emergency plan through the provision of small stations provide about 11 thousand volts, comes ready from the neighboring countries and is setting up this international companies interested in investment projects electrolysis. Iraq has suffered from a severe shortage of electric power, and continues to the national grid is unable to supply electricity to more than a few hours a day, in comes interruptions repeated in power at the top of citizens' complaints.

According to government figures, the power of Iraq available approximately 9 thousand megawatts, with an estimated demand of up to 14 thousand megawatts during the summer when temperatures exceed 50 degrees Celsius. Iraq has been planning to increase the capacity of electricity to 27 thousand MW the next four years and require an investment of not less than three to $ 4 billion a year to be able to achieve this goal.

http://www.aknews.com/ar/aknews/2/254390/

Iraq, Iran and Turkey agreed to establish a joint bank

Concluded Iraq, Iran and Turkey, a memorandum of understanding to establish a joint bank with a capital of $ 200 million.

Revealed Agency (Fars News) Iranian news, that the "representatives of three countries, Turkey and Iran held a meeting last Thursday on the sidelines of their participation in the exhibition Construction Iranian international place in the capital Tehran, and they concluded a cooperation agreement between the three countries."

According to the agency, Fars, "the objective goal of the agreement is to provide facilities to move heads of funds between the three countries are slated to be the opening of the main branch of the bank in Iran, as well as the opening of two branches, secondary in Turkey and Iraq."

Said First Deputy President of Iran, Mohammad Reza Rahimi, earlier this month that "Iraq and Iran intend to raise the volume of trade exchange between the two countries to 20 billion U.S. dollars during the next term." As he said Rahimi in July 7 this month that "Iraqi and Iranian sides given consent to raise the volume of trade exchange between them, it is expected that the volume of bilateral trade to 10 billion dollars by the end of this year, to $ 20 billion in the near future."

http://www.aknews.com/ar/aknews/2/254402/

Commission: withdraw the license of mobile phone companies in the event of non-payment of debt (excellent)

Committee announced that the investigation by communications services to mobile phone companies in the House that the debt arising from the mobile phone companies operating in the country is considered one of the outstanding debts of the state which can not be extinguished, noting that on Monday will be a date to read the special report prepared by the Commission for these companies.

An official source in the statement to the reporter (Agency news), that the debt owed ​​by mobile phone companies is one of the (debt outstanding) of the State which can not be extinguished, indicating that the Committee had prepared a recommendation compelled to withdraw the license in the event of non-compliance to pay these debts.

The Committee had revealed earlier in the words of its member MP / coalition of state law / Ali Sheikh Dhari Fayad, that the amounts owed ​​by companies, three mobile phone operating in Iraq in the form of debt amounted to 3 billion and $ 250 million.

The hospitality in press statement that the debt owed ​​by mobile phone companies operating in Iraq has reached three billion and $ 250 million, noting that these amounts also included the benefits of these amounts as a result of the delay in the payment of these amounts.

The source continued that on Monday will be a date to read the report Special prepared by the Commission for these companies, followed by a press conference to clarify some things for those companies. The source declined to reveal the outline of the report, saying only that the cause of postponed until this time because of the signing of the rest of the members of the committee on the report. The Committee had held a meeting with the companies mobile phone last month to discuss a number of issues, including poor service and gates influence the international debt and dusty by the state and agree on the outline of the work during the next phase.

http://www.ikhnews.com/news_view_17379.html