The Iraqi Government showed its readiness to manage the abolishment of oil for food program
Translated by IRAQdirectory.com - [8/11/2008]The Government announced its readiness to manage negotiations to abolish the oil for food programme, while a United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon suggested to the Security Council a number of options for ending the outstanding issues program that was discontinued by the year 2003 after the Security Council starts to abolish the international embargo on Iraq Since the year 1990. Ban Ki-moon clarified in a letter sent to the Council: "The review of some documents relating to the programme is very slow and it had to form a working group to meet on the issue last June," pointing out that "132" letters of payable credit to the value of "237" Million Dollar are still abeyance. He noted that "the working group discovered that some suppliers under the program have confirmed the delivery of goods at a time when the Iraqi government demanded cancellation of credit letters granted to them."
The working group proposed according to a letter published by Moon on the website of the international organization, several options for ending the program, one of them is continuing to work on the rest of pending documents of the transactions relating to letters of credit, and to perform a new mechanism to end the deal conflict with outstanding issues or transfer of funds and the managing responsibility for any activities of the programme to the Iraqi government, in this case the government would be responsible for submitting a report every four months for the Security Council on progress of ending the program, the team report pointed on the government's willingness to take this responsibility. It should be noted that the food-for medicine that had begun in December of the year 1996 aimed at balancing the results of economic sanctions by allowing Iraq to sell oil to buy food, medicine and other humanitarian needs, and ended after the year 2003. And the execution of this program had witnessed involvement of hundreds of companies and personalities in suspicious transactions with the former regime, in addition to granting bribes to officials on the programme to dabble in deals.
The Ministry of Finance will disburse the salary increases according two stages for the next 6 months
Translated by IRAQdirectory.com - [8/10/2008]
The Ministry of Finance, declared on Wednesday, that the increases of salary grades which were approved for the next six months will be disbursed according to two stages, this first in September and the second in January of next year. A statement by the Ministry, as saying that "this action was meant to absorb inflation, which happened in the market due to casting the current cash, and to meet the obligations of Iraq for the International Monetary Fund."
The statement denied all reports and news about cancellation of new salary grade, and returning the salaries state of employees to what it was previously. The ministry continues in distributing the differences within a new salary grade for those who have not received any increases over the last six months." The statement explained that the stoppage will not enclose the benefits approved within the new service law of university during the next four months, and that the postponement will include increases of employees salaries within the new grade schedule .
The Gas cylinders Factory in Wassit will increase the production to 300 thousand cylinders annually
The Director of manufacturing of liquid gas cylinders plant in Wasit, stated to (Aswat Al Iraq) on Wednesday, the installation of devices and modern equipment of the plant will increase productivity to 300 thousand cylinders annually. The engineer Qassim Sharida explained, "that the installation of devices and machines of modern manufacturing plant for liquid gas cylinders instead of old machines on (Wednesday) for the purpose of modernizing the refinery production lines and improve the quality of production and stopping the bottlenecks occurring in productivity." He added: "The new machines have been installed in the lab were welding bottleneck machines and welding base as well as the maintenance of some machines for the factory production lines by the engineering and technical staff of the plant."
He pointed out that "energy production after the new installed machines will be 300 thousand cylinders per year while the energy production were not exceeding 200 thousand cylinders per year since the foundation of the lab." He did not mention the cost of new equipment have been installed, however, pointed out that "the management of the lab encouraged a number of staff in the development and training sessions to work on modern equipment." The factory of liquid gas cylinders in Wasit was founded in 1979 and is the only lab and specialist manufacture of liquid gas cylinders in Iraq. The city of Kut, the Centre for Wasit governorate, located 180 kilometres southeast of the capital Baghdad.
Iraq now open for business, says former ambassador
(28/02/08) Western companies risk losing out to emerging competitors if they delay investment in Iraq, according to the former Iraq ambassador to the UK. Dr Salah Al-Shaikhly, who served in London for over three years, says that companies from Eastern Europe, the Middle East and the Far East are now looking to capitalise on the many investment opportunities found within Iraq and that the established order needs to move quickly to avoid being left behind.
The former ambassador, now a leading commentator on Iraq, added that the media has played a major role in slowing investment, pointing to dominant coverage of problem-laded Baghdad as opposed to areas of relative peace and stability, such as the northern Kurdistan region and the south west. Dr Al-Shaikhly commended the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for its bravery in signing oil agreements with international operators and further criticised those "driven by political bias" for discouraging the progress made within the oil sector.
"Critics assume that commercial companies are always trying to take unfair advantage of Iraqis and that we do not have the kind of technicians who are able to assess a commercial package - all of which is quite untrue," Al-Shaikhly added.
He also praised those companies prepared to move quickly in aiding the regeneration of Iraq, through infrastructure projects and investment in areas such as real estate and tourism.
Communications was described as a now flourishing sector, with the uptake in mobile phone subscriptions seen as a prime example of the progress made, while also noting that Internet access needed to improve significantly.
Dr Al-Shaikhly sounded a final note of caution by emphasising how businesses coming to Iraq needed to do their homework and should look to partner with established local Iraqi companies, while also being mindful of local rules and traditions.
Such focus on the tremendous investment opportunities available within Iraq comes following the news that Iraqi Minister of Industry Fawzi Hariri is looking to open up Iraq's largest non-oil industries to the global market. This process, described as the first step towards privatisation, will culminate in a large scale summit in Dubai on 19-20 April.
Source: Noozz
Iraq lawmakers approve new flag |
By Kimi Yoshino, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer BAGHDAD -- Iraqi lawmakers approved a new flag Tuesday, defusing a long-simmering dispute with the country's northern Kurds, who had refused to fly the national banner because of its connection to Saddam Hussein. Kurds have long flown their own flag, a sun-splashed banner with bands of red, white and green. But the division between them and Iraq's Arabs escalated in September 2006 when Kurdistan regional President Massoud Barzani banned the national flag from being flown atop official buildings.
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(New flag on top).
Small Business Development Centers Programs October 2, 2007
GENERAL PETRAEUS LETTER TO TROOPS - AN INSIGHT INTO THE IMPROVING CLIMATE FOR BUSINESS IN IRAQ 7 September 2007
Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, and Civilians of Multi-National Force-Iraq We are now over two-and-a-half months into the surge of offensive operations made possible by the surge of forces, and I want to share with you my view of how I think we’re doing. This letter is a bit longer than previous ones, since I feel you deserve a detailed description of what I believe we have – and have not – accomplished, as Ambassador Crocker and I finalize the assessment we will provide shortly to Congress. Up front, my sense is that we have achieved tactical momentum and wrested the initiative from our enemies in a number of areas of Iraq. The result has been progress in the security arena, although it has, as you know, been uneven. Additionally, as you all appreciate very well, innumerable tasks remain and much hard work lies ahead. We are, in short, a long way from the goal line, but we do have the ball and we are driving down the field. We face a situation that is exceedingly complex. Al Qaeda, associated insurgent groups, and militia extremists, some supported by Iran, continue to carry out attacks on us, our Iraqi partners, and the Iraqi civilians we seek to secure. We have to contend with the relentless pace of operations, the crushing heat, and the emotions that we all experience during long deployments and tough combat. And we operate against a backdrop of limited Iraqi government capacity, institutions trying to rebuild, and various forms of corruption. All of this takes place in a climate of distrust and fear that stems from the sectarian violence that did so much damage to the fabric of Iraqi society in 2006 and into 2007, not to mention the decades of repression under Saddam’s brutal regime. Tragically, sectarian violence continues to cause death and displacement in Baghdad and elsewhere, albeit at considerably reduced levels from 8 months ago, due, in large part, to your hard work and sacrifice together with our Iraqi counterparts. In spite of these challenges, our operations – particularly the offensive operations we have conducted since mid-June – have helped produce progress in many areas on the ground. In fact, the number of attacks across the country has declined in 8 of the past 11 weeks, reaching during the last week in August a level not seen since June 2006. This trend is not just a result of greater numbers of Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces; it also reflects your determination, courage, and skill in conducting counterinsurgency operations. By taking the fight to the enemy, you have killed or captured dozens of leaders and thousands of members of Al Qaeda-Iraq and extremist militia elements, you have taken many of Al Qaeda’s former sanctuaries away from them, and you have dismantled a number of their car bomb and improvised explosive device networks. By living among the population with our Iraqi partners, you have been holding the areas you have cleared. By helping Iraqis reestablish basic services and local governance, you have helped exploit the security gains. And by partnering closely with Iraqi Security Forces, you have been strengthening Iraqi elements that will one day have sole responsibility for protecting their population. Indeed, while Iraqi forces clearly remain a work in progress, Iraqi soldiers and police are very much in the fight, and they continue to sustain losses that are two to three times our losses. We are also building momentum in an emerging area of considerable importance – local reconciliation. Local Iraqi leaders are coming forward, opposing extremists, and establishing provisional units of neighborhood security volunteers. With growing Government of Iraq support, these volunteers are being integrated into legitimate institutions to help improve local security. While this concept is playing out differently in various areas across Iraq, it is grounded in a desire shared by increasing numbers of Iraqis – to oppose extremist elements and their ideologies. This is very significant, as many of you know first-hand, extremists cannot survive without the support of the population. The popular rejection of Al Qaeda and its ideology has, for example, helped transform Anbar Province this year from one of the most dangerous areas of Iraq to one of the safest. The popular rejection has helped Coalition and Iraqi Forces take away other areas from Al Qaeda as well, and we are seeing a spread of this sentiment in an ever-increasing number of Sunni areas. Now, in fact, we are also seeing a desire to reject extremists emerge in many Shi’a areas. The progress has not, to be sure, been uniform across Baghdad or across Iraq. Accomplishments in some areas – for example, in Ramadi and in Anbar Province – have been greater than any of us might have predicted six months ago. The achievements in some other areas – for example, in some particularly challenging Baghdad neighborhoods and in reducing overall civilian casualties, especially those caused by periodic, barbaric Al Qaeda bombings – have not been as dramatic. However, the overall trajectory has been encouraging, especially when compared to the situation at the height of the sectarian violence in late 2006 and early 2007. Many of us hoped this summer would be a time of tangible political progress at the national level as well. One of the justifications for the surge, after all, was that it would help create the space for Iraqi leaders to tackle the tough questions and agree on key pieces of “national reconciliation” legislation. It has not worked out as we had hoped. All participants, Iraqi and coalition alike, are dissatisfied by the halting progress on major legislative initiatives such as the oil framework law, revenue sharing, and de-ba’athification reform. At the same time, however, our appreciation of what this legislation represents for Iraqi leaders has grown. These laws are truly fundamental in nature and will help determine how Iraqis will share power and resources in the new Iraq. While much work remains to be done before these critical issues are resolved, the seriousness with which Iraqi leaders came together at their summit in late August has given hope that they are up to the task before them, even if it is clearly taking more time than we initially expected. In the coming months, our coalition’s countries and all Iraqis will continue to depend on each of you and on our Iraqi counterparts to keep the pressure on the extremists, to help security and strengthen the rule of law for all Iraqis, to work with the Government of Iraq to integrate volunteers into local security and national institutions, to assist with the restoration and improvement of basic services, and to continue the development of conditions that foster reconciliation. For our part, Ambassador Crocker and I will continue to do everything in our power to help the Prime Minister and the Government of Iraq achieve the meaningful results that will ensure that your sacrifices and those of your comrades help produce sustainable security for Iraq over the long term. A stable and secure Iraq that denies extremists a safe haven and has a government that is representative of and responsive to all Iraqis helps protect the vital interests of our coalition countries. A stable and secure Iraq will also benefit Iraq’s citizens and Iraq’s neighbors alike, bringing calm to a region full of challenges and employing iraq’s human capital and natural resource blessings for the benefit of all. As I noted at the outset of this letter, over the next few days, Ambassador Crocker and I will share with the U.S. Congress and the American people our assessment of the situation in Iraq. I will also describe the recommendations I have provided to my chain of command. I will go before Congress conscious of the strain on our forces, the sacrifices that you and your families are making, the gains we have made in Iraq, the challenges that remain, and the importance of building on what we and our Iraqi counterparts have fought so hard to achieve. Thanks once again for what each of you continue to do. Our Nations have asked much of you and your families. It remains the greatest of honors to serve with you. Sincerely, David H. Petraeus
Iraq economy growing despite conflict
In its report on productivity in the Middle East, the New York-based economic research group said that Iraq's gross domestic product growth rate increased by 7.3 percent in 2005, compared to a 14.2 percent decrease posted in 1995. Iraq's growth reflected the overall expansion seen in the region, the board said. Nevertheless, it warned that stagnant productivity levels continue to hold back economic growth in the Middle East and there was still a lack of a middle class that could push economic expansion forward. Overall, productivity had actually fallen over the past decade in the region compared to U.S. levels to 40 percent in 2005 from 54 percent posted in 1987. Foreign firms eye new work in Iraq Favorable Climate
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We face
numerous challenges in Iraq, and today it was clear that
the time for determined collective action has come. This
meeting has helped to promote a stronger partnership
between the international community and Iraq. The United
Nations is committed to supporting this partnership.
"The United
Nations 
To ensure swift, flexible, and coordinated
donor financing for priority investments in Iraq ,
the UN and the World Bank created theInternational
Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq (
