Thread: Kurdistan Economy

Kurds Threaten To Pull Out Of Iraqi Coalition Government

http://www.rferl.org/content/kurds_c...q/2250648.html

BAGHDAD -- The Kurdistan Alliance will not participate in the new Iraqi cabinet unless the major Shi'ite parliament faction, the National Alliance (NA), agrees to its "position paper" outlining 19 key demands, RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq reports.

The Kurds attach great importance to signing the 19-point paper as it is tantamount to a government program, senior Kurdistan Alliance parliamentarian Mahmoud Othman told RFI.

He said failure to sign the paper would be a serious setback to the political process, because in that case the Kurds will not participate in the government currently being formed.

Prime Minister-designate Nouri al-Maliki is expected to announce his government on December 23, two days before the deadline set by the constitution for doing so.

The Kurdish demands include key positions in the government; recognition of contracts signed by the Kurdish Regional Government with foreign oil companies but considered illegal by Baghdad; and a solution to disputed areas, above all, multi-ethnic oil-rich Kirkuk, under article 140 of the constitution. That article provides for overcoming the aftermath of Kirkuk's Arabization by former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, a census in the province, and a referendum on joining or remaining outside the Kurdish region.

Othman said only one of the 19 demands is being reformulated, that which states that if the Kurdish ministers withdraw from the government, it shall disband or be dissolved.

But National Alliance parliamentary bloc member Saad al-Muttalibi told RFI that no paper will be signed, and agreement on the Kurdish demands will be reached by consensus, as is generally the rule in Iraqi politics.

Al-Muttalibi said the objection centers on the Kurds' demands that the National Alliance sign the paper, rather than on its contents.

Meanwhile, National Alliance parliamentary group member Hussein al-Safi told RFI that the Shi'ite bloc will have 19 ministries in the new cabinet, including the oil portfolio and three state ministries without portfolio.

Kadhum al-Shammari, a member of the Sunni-backed Al Iraqiya parliamentary group, told RFI that al Iraqiya's overall share is 11 ministries, including the finance and defense ministries.

Al-Shammari said negotiations are continuing on the ministry of higher education, to which both al Iraqiya and the National Alliance have laid claim.

Kurdish parliamentary bloc member Saeed Rasoul told RFI that the Kurds will have six or seven ministries, including foreign affairs.

Here we go again. Round and Round we go.

Two steps forward and three steps back.

Kurdistan Signs Trade Protocol With Ukraine
http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/201...-with-ukraine/

Kurds boycotted today’s parliamentary session over budget disagreement
Saturday, December 18th 2010 11:37 AM
http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/2/203300/

Erbil, Dec.18 (AKnews)- A Kurdish deputy to the Iraqi parliament said due to disagreements over the budget bill, his bloc walked out of parliament Saturday.

Citing to AKnews, Saeed Rasul Khoshnaw from the Kurdistan Blocs Coalition (KBC) said the bill was “inaccurate” and the Kurds demanded the bill’s first reading be postponed.

However, since the parliament presidency (the speaker and his two deputies) turned down the demand the bloc choose to boycott the session.

Parliament was due to discuss a number of bills today, including the budget, the de-Baathification exemption for some lawmakers, the bill for the National Council for Strategic Policies, investment budget and the provincial development funds.

The general budget of the country for 2011 is estimated to be around 78.969 billion U.S. Dollars. However, the fund should be ratified by parliament. The Kurdistan Region is entitled to 17% of the total budget, equal over $9.184 billion.

The Iraqi 2010 general budget reached over $71 billion.

Opening of the 12 banks Kurdistan province during the current year

Bank of the Kurdistan region, on Wednesday, the opening of the 12 banks in the Kurdistan region during the current year, seven of which civil government and five, bringing the total number of banks in the region to 157 banks.

The head of the Bank of the Kurdistan region, Adham Karim, told the Kurdish news agency (Rn), that "the economy of the region is undergoing more year after year, because the province is pursuing an open policy in economic and trade relations, what form of incentive for a large number of companies and foreign businessmen to travel to the region , which helped in the development of the banking sector. "

The cream that "12 new bank opened during the current year, and there is now the province's 157 banks were private sector and government, and we expect to increase this number in the coming years," noting that "this is due to the facilities that we provide and the Hamas region to receive capital."

There were in the Kurdistan region 65 were private sector banks and 80 government banks, in the last year, was involved in the distribution of salaries and transfer and currency conversion to and from within the region.

http://www.aknews.com/ar/aknews/2/204661/

2nd UPDATE: Iraq Oil Min:Ctrl Govt To Recognize Oil Deals Inked By Kurdistan
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-...25-700796.html
(Updates to add Kurds may sell oil only through the national export network)

CAIRO(Dow Jones)--Iraq will recognize a score of oil deals signed by the Kurds in northern Iraq, Iraq's new oil minister, Abdul Kareem Luaiby, said Saturday.

"Yes, we will recognize them," Luaiby said when asked by Dow Jones Newswires.

The central government will also pay back costs incurred by foreign companies investing in the north, he added. Luaiby on Friday said the government will activate an agreement signed with Kurdistan earlier this year to export crude.

However, the Kurds will be able to sell their oil to the outside world only through the national export network with revenues go to the government budget.

"Exports will be through the central system in return for the government responsibility to develop the oil fields (in Kurdistan)," he told reporters Saturday. The central government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government are at loggerheads over dozens of oil deals the KRG has signed with international oil companies.

Baghdad says the deals are not binding as they haven't been approved by the federal government, while the Kurds say they are in line with the new constitution.

Luaiby's appointment to lead the oil ministry was approved by the Iraq parliament this week, as part of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's new Cabinet. Al-Maliki has pledged to fulfill key demands from the Kurdish region that have long plagued Iraqi politics.

Iraqi Kurdistan Independence by 2016: Former Obama Advisor
http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurds/3383.html

ERBIL, Iraqi Kurdistan: The Iraqi Kurds will win independence by 2016, and Iraq and neighboring Turkey and Syria, who are now principally against the establishment of a Kurdish state, will accept the reality, argues former election adviser to United States President Barack Obama.

Parag Khanna, an Indian American, is now the current director of the Global Governance Initiative, which was set up by the New American Foundation think tank in the US. He is known as an international relations expert and has been involved with several other major US think tanks in recent years.

In his book released in 2008, “The Second World: Empires and Influence in the New Global Order,” Khanna predicted the Kurds would become independent by 2016 and that 20,000 US troops would be stationed in Kurdistan by that time.

He praised the Kurdish economy and said the US should support the Iraqi Kurds, since they were a secular ally.

Khanna said he was convinced the US, which had been opposed to independence for greater Kurdistan, which spans parts of Iran, Turkey, Syria and Iraq, could be convinced to support Kurdish independence in Iraq.

He also said he hoped for the support of the countries neighboring Iraqi Kurdistan.

“I believe that the incentives can be aligned for Turkey and Syria and Iraq, though I am less sure about Iran,” said Khanna. “Yet Iran has traditionally had less dispute with the Kurds. One of the key steps is to make clear that the borders [of an independent Kurdistan] would be [only] those of Iraqi Kurdistan [and not the surrounding countries].”

Khanna said Kurdish gas and oil especially could play a decisive role in the issue of support for their independence.

“Turkish businesses are profiting handsomely from Kurdistan's development, and as the country becomes ever more a conduit for Western energy, Kurdistan/Iraq present an important new supply to Europe,” said the author. “If the Nabucco pipeline comes through, it would be an important channel for Iraq/Kurdistan energy flow.”

Nabucco is a proposed natural gas pipeline which will run from Turkey to Austria, and which is expected to decrease Europe’s dependence on Russian gas. Kurdistan is expected to be a major supplier for the pipeline, with an estimated 3 to 6 trillion cubic meters of gas reserves.

Khanna saw the development of oil and gas reserves as being crucial to Iraqi Kurdistan’s future, and disagreed with the present view of many Kurdish politicians that Dubai was an ideal model for the Kurdish economy.

“Dubai is not a meaningful or sensible model for Kurdistan,” said Khanna. “Dubai's development has been real-estate driven, not oil driven. Kurdistan seeks to maintain a politically stable climate for its own economic growth and consolidation of autonomy.”

In addition, Khanna said he believed the future of the Obama administration would not be dependent on continued hostility towards Iran, as recently claimed by Brain Binley, a member of the British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom.

“I do not believe that Obama's continuation as president will hinge on whether or not he is hostile towards Iran, “ said Khanna. “In any case, the US position towards Iran continues to be somewhat confrontational, so we remain in a status quo from the Bush administration.”

How will the potential Kurdish independence affect our Iraq investment ?? Any input from our experts is appreciated.

I would like to know the answer to that question as well.