Thread: Archive - Latest News Think Tank - 15/01/09 - 04/05/09

Central to the sales decline to $ 156 million

the U.S. dollar decreased sales of the Central Bank in an auction for the sale and purchase of foreign currency, on Wednesday, to 156 million versus $ 173 million and 460 thousand dollars, at the previous meeting.

The bulletin, which led the Central Bank and the Agency has received (Voices of Iraq) a copy of which was that "the total volume of demand for the dollar stood at 156 million and 955 thousand dollars at the exchange rate was stable compared to 1170 dinars per dollar."

The figure is a decrease from the previous meeting, which recorded total volume of demand for the dollar stood at 173 million and 460 thousand dollars at the exchange rate was 1170 dinars per dollar.

The Bulletin that "the demand for the dollar is distributed by 61 million and 40 thousand dollars in cash, covered by the bank at the exchange rate was 1176 dinars per dollar, including the central bank and a commission of six dinars per dollar."

With the value of remittances outside the country of 95 million and 915 thousand dollars, "covered by the central exchange rate was 1173 dinars, including the central bank and a commission of three dinars per dollar," did not make any of the 14 banks participating in the auction, offers to sell the dollar.

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Talabani and Maliki visits .. revive the economy and attract foreign investments

Co-working, Jalal Talabani and Nouri al-Maliki during their visits to Iran and Australia, to support and revive the Iraqi economy by attracting more investment projects, and move to upgrade agricultural and industrial Ballowaqain.

Movements of the President of the Republic and the ministers, which began yesterday, coincided with efforts to promote national reconciliation through an extensive meeting was held in Baghdad in the ninth of next month, and the determination of the Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa on the Arab initiative to support Iraq during his upcoming visit to the country next week, and assurances of the Turkish president to visit Turkey Baghdad, Abdullah Gul, on the twentieth of this month.

The President's visit to Iran, where he arrived Sunday evening to participate in the summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) as guest of honor, "great importance", where the Taliban are important talks on the sidelines of the summit with the leaders and the leaders of the participating States, would be designed to stimulate investment in Iraq, according to sources the Presidency of the Republic.

The presidential statement said Talabani, on leave at the top of a high-level official delegation, headed to Iran to participate in the summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), which opens today. The sources said that President Talabani will hold meetings with leaders on the sidelines of the summit, including the Iranian and Turkish presidents Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Abdullah Gul, in addition to a number of leaders of other countries, and in the context of similar, said government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, left the country yesterday, on an official visit to Australia, accompanied by a delegation comprising senior officials in the political and economic spheres said. Dabbagh told a news briefing: that Maliki's visit is aimed mainly at boosting bilateral relations between Baghdad and Canberra, particularly in the agricultural field.

But the MP Abbas al-Bayati, said the coalition of the "morning", said the prime minister during the visit seeks to attract more foreign investment to Iraq. Bayati said of the "morning," said Maliki will hold talks with his Australian counterpart Kevin Rudd on various areas, he said, pointing at the same time The Prime Minister plans to visit Moscow, Paris and London soon. In the meantime, the intention of the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States Amr Moussa Arab initiative to support Iraq during talks with the country's leaders during his visit Baghdad next week.

And the source of the Foreign Relations Committee in the House of Representatives that Musa with the country's leaders will deliberate on a range of issues in the forefront of strengthening the Arab diplomatic representation in Baghdad and the issue of debt and compensation Iraq, the Arab, in addition to the issue of Iraqis residing in the Arab capitals and the general situation in the country, especially after the improvement achieved in the security file, as well as discuss the agreements and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, foreign and local elections that took place recently.

In the meantime, informed sources said that Turkish President Abdullah Gul will visit Baghdad on the twentieth of this month, where he will discuss with the President of the Republic and the ministers of several files, saying that Gul's visit did not put the Kurdistan region within the agenda.

To detect the current secretary-general of Iraq's democratic Prince Rikabi approached on a number of forces opposed to the political process from inside and outside the country and personalities from various directions in order to ensure their participation in the expanded conference held in Baghdad in the hope April 9 next. Rikabi said the "morning" that the term coming dialogues with armed groups, saying that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has a clear vision and has fully prepared for the success of the draft national reconciliation.

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The efforts of the economic cooperation with Rome

The Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Barham Salih, with the Italian Economic Development Minister Claudio Scajola and his entourage, to promote economic relations between Baghdad and Rome, and developed ways to serve the interests of the two peoples.

And chaired the benefit of the joint meeting, which included, as well as the Italian delegation and the Minister of Finance and Planning, electricity, trade, industry, transport and of the ministries of industry, trade and oil and the head of the investment advisers and the head of the agency Thamir Ghadhban.

Salih said that the visit demonstrates the strength of relations between the two countries, and that large areas of cooperation and multilateral and investment opportunities for Italian companies and large. Adding that the government look at Italy as a friend and partner, and the Iraqi institutions need the expertise and technology that is owned, experience in various areas, especially the field of agriculture the government is trying to revive this vital sector, utilizing the expertise and advanced technology and automation in the world, led by Italy.

To this end, Minister of Economic Development of Italy, to support the Government of his country and its prospects in the opening of relations with Iraq and wide, adding that Italy, from the States with the major contribution in the reconstruction efforts and the delegation, accompanied by a fundamental and important sectors in the economy of Italy, and they are ready for fruitful cooperation with all sectors economic Iraq.

He pointed out that Italy has completed the feasibility study and draft plans for the vital port of Faw, and is ready for the transition to the implementation stage after the completion of other inputs,

The Italian minister said that there is a trend to support small and medium industrial enterprises in Iraq, the call is directed through the government to host a number of these companies to conduct joint workshops in Italy.

He expressed his country's readiness to participate in the efforts to train Iraqi cadres and the transfer of expertise and technology to upgrade performance. The Deputy Prime Minister Gen. Raymond Odierno, commander of coalition forces in Iraq.

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Make changes to the law on investment in Iraq soon

Bander Abdullah revealed the official in the Iraqi national investment plans for amendments to the law on investment in Iraq, No. / 13 / for the year 2006. Bandar said in a press release issued today in this regard was the preparation of a set of proposals will be raised at the conference to be held in Baghdad in mid-month March with the participation of provincial councils and ministries of government bodies to amend certain paragraphs of the general law.

He added that the proposed amendments, if adopted, would not affect the nature of the protocols signed by the Board with their requests Aually international companies in the implementation of investment projects in the governorates of Baghdad, Iraq ..Referring to the movement of the body to provide guarantees for foreign capital to work in the country.

The Iraqi official acknowledged the existence of some obstacles that prevent the influx of investors as they like

The national investment .. Link conviction that the same investor, whether local or foreign.

He called on government agencies and ministries to support the work of the Commission and coordinating with the committees that were formed to follow up the recent investment in the charts throughout Iraq ..Mabutth denied a media presence of the terms of the implementation of projects the private sector companies.

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Investment Authority, a symposium will be held next Sunday to discuss the working papers

the complexity of the investment, next Sunday, a seminar in Baghdad to discuss the prospects for the development of mechanisms of action of the investment in the provinces, according to the National Information Center on Wednesday.

The statement received by the agency (Voices of Iraq) a copy of which "calls upon the National Authority for Investment and all media to attend the symposium to be organized by specialized agencies to discuss the prospects for the development of mechanisms of action of the investment in the provinces."

The symposium will be held at the tenth on the morning of Sunday, 3-15-2009 in the Rashid Hotel in Baghdad, where the discussion will include working papers on the vision of the reality of the current investment, as well as visions of investment in the provinces of that fact, the statement said.

And attend the seminar mentioned that IS (investment as a cornerstone in the future of the Iraqi economy) and the agents of the ministries and governors and heads of investment in the provinces.

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Iraq: Cabinet orders resumption of postponed projects

The Iraqi cabinet ordered all ministries and state institutions to resume e.xecuting projects that have been stopped for security reasons, according to a cabinet release.

"The order is meant to minimize time loss and to achieve interests," said the release that was received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

"It is due to the security improvement throughout Iraq," it added.

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Iraq court jails ex-deputy PM Aziz for 15 years

Iraq's top court on Wednesday sentenced former deputy premier Tareq Aziz and Saddam Hussein's hatchet-man "Chemical Ali" Hassan al-Majid to 15 years in jail for crimes against humanity.

Aziz and Majid were among eight people on trial at the Iraqi High Tribunal over the 1992 murders of 42 Baghdad traders accused of racketeering while Iraq was under punishing UN sanctions imposed after the invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

The two key figures in Saddam's ousted regime had risked the death penalty. It is the first conviction against Aziz, 73, who was Saddam's spokesman to the outside world for two decades but turned himself in after the regime was overthrown by US-led invading forces in March 2003. Wednesday's decision followed a verdict delivered by the Baghdad court on March 2 that condemned Majid, a half brother of Saddam, to his third death sentence over the murder of Shiite Muslims 10 years ago.

However, the court had acquitted Aziz on the same charges of crimes against humanity.

Majid himself was first sentenced to death in June 2007 for genocide after ordering the deaths of tens of thousands of Kurds during the 1988 Anfal campaign, when Iraqi forces strafed villages with poison gas, the source of his grim nickname. He was also given a second death penalty for war crimes and crimes against humanity over a bloody crackdown on Shiites during their ill-fated uprising after the 1991 Gulf War.

He and Aziz, whose acquittal on March 2 was the first verdict from four trials in which he is a defendant, are also accused of displacing and killing about 2,000 clansmen of Kurdish regional president Massud Barzani. The two men, along with former interior minister Watban Ibrahim Hassan and Saddam's private secretary Abed Hamud, are among 16 former officials also on trial for a brutal 1980s campaign against Shiite Kurds. They are accused of using members of the Fayli Kurdish community as guinea pigs for chemicals weapons testing and as human shields during Iraq's war with neighbouring Iran from 1980 to 1988.

Aziz, who was the only Christian in Saddam's inner circle, has said he was proud to have been a member of the now disbanded Baath party. He has also stated that could not be held responsible for the charges against him in the deaths of the Baghdad merchants. He turned himself in to US forces in April 2003 after Saddam's regime was overthrown, but his son last year complained that he was being held in very bad conditions in custody and was suffering from a variety of ailments.

Chemical Ali, a former defence minister and cousin of the ****uted dictator, has shown no remorse for his part in the crimes for which he stands accused.

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Alshabibi: new plans to combat inflation, and the development of the purchasing power of the dinar

Analysts of global economic crisis that hit the construction plan for the Iraqi government has decided to start. But the Central Bank of Iraq the other hand, asserts that it was able to reduce the size of the effects of inflation from 34 percent, the highest rates in 2006 to 9.2 percent. According to the (Gulf Times) The (Shabibi) Central bank governor told her that there are plans to develop effective government-run banks and managed by the private sector.The (Alshabibi), the stagnation in oil prices - to fall on the levels of more than double current prices - the result of the slowdown on the application of crude oil because of the financial crisis that prevails in the world today, has left Iraq needs money to restore the infrastructure, after years of war, economic sanctions, and the repercussions of the security situation after 2003.

Shabibi said: ((The financial crisis has had a significant impact on us)). It should be noted that Iraq has begun a financial Ruminating that depends on 95 percent of the economies to the financial resources accruing from the sale of oil. Last month, has not only earned 1.8 billion dollars from oil sales, compared with nearly 7 billion dollars last July, when oil prices peaked at $ 147 a barrel!. Iraq is now in need of funds for the reconstruction of infrastructure after the debilitating effects of the war, and sectarian violence, and by that stage the economic blockade. The basic need of money clearly evident in the reduction of the Iraqi budget for the year 2009. But (Alshabibi) confirmed that Iraq had not been subjected to any harm as he named the other symptoms of the global financial crisis, the deterioration of confidence in any bank, financial isolation because of the relatively, and also because of its underdeveloped banking!. In his plans to deal with this case, he said (Alshabibi): ((There is a major program to improve the banks in Iraq, particularly in the establishment of private banks)). Any private banks, which are not so far - and the government - operates international standards.

It is noted that for the first time the central bank in Iraq, giving the banks the capacity to address issues of international payments, and credits in foreign currency equivalent to a maximum of $ 4 million for each bank, while the amount for the pre-set only 1 million dollars in the year 2008. The (Alshabibi) Most letters of credit which had been used, handled by the Commercial Bank of the Government (TBI). He pointed out that private banks need to exert greater efforts to expand its trade and finance. The private banks - the war, about 30 banks - are still lacking of effective cross-border payments, and most of these institutions are relatively small, can not be supported in limited quantities of trade.

On a related matter suggested (Alshabibi) said: ((We are already planning to reduce the rate of inflation to the level of its development to make sure the purchasing power of the Iraqi currency)). A (Alshabibi) Central Bank of Iraq to follow the tight monetary policy - in the past few years - in order to curb the inflation in the country, which amounted to 70 percent rate during the last term of the former regime, admitting: ((our monetary policy was very strict, but now We need to facilitate with low inflation)). The (Alshabibi) that the central bank would adopt a policy of strengthening the Iraqi currency (the dinar). He said that the dinar has risen in the past few months against the dollar, and this is the case due to the bank's success in the financial exchanges across the water bottle daily. It should be noted that the price of the dinar over the past week there d 1500 was 1,170 per dollar, and it is continuing on that price for almost the past three years. Before 2003, the dinar exchange rate was up to the 2000 and 2500 per dollar. The rate of the Iraqi bank sells $ 50 million to $ 60 million each working day in Baghdad to the banks, government-run or private banks.

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International companies .. Are the bulk of its attention to the Iraqi market

Iraq today has a market attractive to all global product after a break from the outside world for nearly two decades of time .. Which created a large gap between Iraq and the world in the field of scientific development, technical .. Today, after the restoration of security and the need for globally unique goods .. Leading global companies started to go to Iraq through various outlets in an attempt to showcase their products in markets that rely Iraq the foreign product in most cases. Hussein Murad, director of global sales of the Ford Motor Company, said: After we found that the improvement security has prevailed in most parts of Iraq now that the aspirations of all international companies to go to Iraq and offer their products ..

Including Ford Motor Co., which found Iraq to kiss the new products. We began our work in the progressive province of Kurdistan as the first stage followed by other stages in which to reach all parts of Iraq .. And in particular the importance of our products started to gain a lot of Iraqi citizens. Therefore, we have a desire to offer outstanding quality and since we successfully on the Iraqi market .. When adopted the idea of the trend towards the Iraqi market, we have studied appropriate Almstlhlk in Iraq in terms of durability and quality of the product as well as quantities of fuel consumed by vehicles .. We also found the attention of the Iraqi government on the issue of the environment. Which led us to study the issue and the trend towards the manufacture of engines for talking a significant negative impact of very short .. we are working today in accordance with the requirements of the new Iraq in terms of reliance on the solid successful product of good quality and appropriate for the new phase

Engineer Muhammad al-Masri, general manager for trade agencies Niza said: we are working today to provide distinctive products to the Iraqi market after the fact that we have studied the Iraqi market is good and we found it full of product specifications of the poor quality .. This has prompted us to exist within the Iraqi market, which is one of the best global markets .. To the presence of high demand and the enormous good product .. Particularly that of a global ***** .. Production of today's global market is looking for outstanding promise ..In fact, we find that the market in Iraq .. True security situation was one of the main obstacles to our presence in Iraq .. But today the situation has changed and we started to exist in various parts of Iraq ..

Tell us Jadoua Hadi, director of supermarkets, saying: We are the trend towards sidearms the goods, which supermarkets offer known in the decades of seventies and eighties of the last squash .. Where the specifications of the products our markets offer good quality and global *****s have a good reputation among consumers .. So today we find us deals with a distinct international companies to showcase their products in supermarkets and at affordable prices .. At the time we're also the quality of our national ..

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Gas Company Iraq

Gas industry is still lagging behind in Iraq, compared to peers or the Gulf States of Eastern Europe, or did not meet the aspiration and the extent acceptable to the many reasons that The need for us and the world looking for energy alternatives, which proved the high cost and maintenance of the oil and gas as the basis of energy in the world to develop the gas industry in Iraq as a result of Iraq's reserves and volumes of 109 billion cubic feet of Iraqi experts estimated that 70% of which is the gas accompanying the process of oil extraction of oil reservoirs and the Madjal estimates and reports from the House of Representatives determined the loss of Iraq every day, a hundred billion Iraqi dinars by the burning of associated gas per day, and this is still a staggering figure so far to pay tribute to the results of the future.

But what makes us today a real need to call for the construction of advanced gas industry in Iraq is a world trend towards an alternative gas for oil in the wheel of the recycling industry, energy, and the daily life of citizens and, especially in Europe, which intends to import more than 90% of the production of a crutch, which announced shortly by the competition companies exclusively in the gas industry, but what we would like to put it is not incumbent upon the reader that the shape of Iraq's gas as intended stay of the national oil company, does not that the gas sector in Russia is one of important sectors, and one of the bonds of the strategic relationship between Europe and Russia as an example, not to mention the experience of Qatar and the UAE in this area, then we note that Iraq is still suffering from the lingering crisis in the field of gas, especially employed in the manufacture of electric power to the Iraqis, and in this section we call on the Iraqi oil industry is calling for the formation of Iraq's gas in order to there is allocated by the company to work independently of the national oil company.

So the Iraqi government is called upon today to review the gas industry in Iraq and the mechanisms of its work and the administrative entity.

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