Al Shabibi : Iraq will pay all its debts in 2011

Al Shabibi said Iraq now is executing a reform economical program considering the agreement with the international monitory fund which requires a series of actions to be taken to transfer Iraq to the market economy. The governor clarified that the agreement with Paris club stated that 80% of Iraqi debts will be removed on condition that this process will be executed in stages. The first stage is already executed and 30% was canceled directly on the signature without any conditions or implementation of any program according to the program of urgent help to countries after conflicts. The second stage which will cancel another 30% will be executed in the end of next October, there will be the cancellation of the remaining 20% out of the 80% we have agreed upon with Paris Club , this we will work on its cancellation according to predefined agreements enabling us to cancel all the 80% in the year 2008. (Source) Al Dustoor/ Hayder Al Hashimi

Iraq rebuliding efforts

The following projects starts:

Two health centers in Erbil governorate on of value 635000 American dollars while the other center for the primary health care costs 635000 Dollars. This is a primary center provides services like dentist unit and a pharmacy , out of the rebuilding Iraq projects there are 167 health centers of the general projects in the country out of which 145 is under construction and 8 already finished.

The following projects have been finished:

Boarders crossing project in Basra costs 275000 Dollars , there are 251 similar projects all around the country out of which 176 under construction and 61 finished ones.

Building a police station project in Basra costs 139000 Dollars there are 457 similar projects in the country out of which 179 under construction and 101 finished projects.

Water treatment station in Najaf governorate costs 236000 Dollars there are 208 similar projects around Iraq out of which 96 under construction and 66 have finished.

Rebuilding will continue there are more than 11 billion dollars allocated to the job. (Source)IMNSR

Iraq to Resume Flights to Europe

Transport Minister Salam Al Maliki told the National Assembly that he hoped flights would resume to Frankfurt, one of Europe's main hubs, as well as Middle Eastern destinations.

'God willing, there will be flights to Dubai, Frankfurt, Tehran, Istanbul, Beirut and Cairo by the end of this month,' Maliki said without elaborating which airlines might operate the routes.

State airline Iraqi Airways, which was grounded by sanctions after Saddam's army invaded Kuwait in 1990, has over the past year been rebuilding its operations despite violence which has hampered transport since the war two years ago.

It already flies to Amman and Damascus and this week began domestic flights to Basra in the south for the first time since the US invasion in 2003. Royal Jordanian, the only foreign commercial passenger carrier landing at Baghdad, employs specially trained aircrew and combat zone flying techniques.

Maliki also told parliament that Sulaimaniyah airport, in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, will reopen next month, some months ahead of schedule. The airport at the Kurdish capital Arbil is already open. (Source) Iraqi Media Network

Tourist City in Arbil including 1200 Housing Units with Facilities at a Cost of $350 Million

Mr. Mofeed Behnam, company executive manager in charge, said to Al Hayat, “The project includes the construction of a big housing city at a cost between $300 and $350 million dollars. It includes 1200 housing units, in addition to their infrastructure of social facilities, a school at international standards and a central public market.” He added, “The cost of the project is subject to increase, according to the possible additions. The specified duration to finish the works is 24 months.” According to Behnam, the project also includes the construction of luxurious stores and multi-storey residence buildings, at international standards.

The company administrative manager attributes the reason for the extended scale of its investment works in Iraqi Kurdistan to “the stability of the security conditions, compare to the other Iraqi provinces. This is the same reason that led to the increase of demand on purchasing residence and commercial pieces of land in the region, on behalf of individuals or investment commercial companies, in addition to the facilities that the regional government for the local and foreign investors, allowing them to enter Kurdistan and encouraging them to invest in it.”

In response to a question of Al Hayat on the reason for the continuous housing crisis and the incredible rise of real estate prices in Kurdistan, despite the wide-scale construction and development movement that the region is witnessing, and the limit of participation of the company in such crisis, Behnam said, “The construction movement is not a reformation movement to overcome the housing crisis and it includes no actual projects to relieve it. Our company is not capable of overcoming the crisis, but it certainly can assist in limiting it. Therefore, we see no harmony between supply and demand, as the latter is witnessing noticeable increase.”

He confirms that it is hard to solve the housing problem, which is existing for six years in Iraq, just all of a sudden.”

Behnam believes that the best means to handle the problem lies in vertical construction, which is represented in residence buildings and supplying with more investment facilities in the region to attract the investment companies that are working in the field of construction.

Within the same context, the economic prosperity in the region of Iraqi Kurdistan, the availability of employment opportunities and the improvement of employees salaries have led to a shortage in the work force in the field of construction. Many construction workers refrain from work. They prefer to work in a governmental department and receive a reasonable salary, in addition to the job benefits, instead of spending the whole day in hard work.

Mr. Mofeed Behnam said, “Due to the expansion of the scale of projects that the company is executing, our demand for workforce is continuously increasing. Nevertheless, we can not rely on the local workers from within Iraq, the southern and central Iraqi cities, as the security situation in such regions prevents from that.”

He pointed out, “The Company has found a way out for its problem in bringing workforce through private offices for technical workforce, which it continuously deals with. They verify the person’s identity before entering Kurdistani lands. In addition, the security authorities in Kurdistan verify them too to make sure that they do not belong to terrorist cells that are claiming work.”(Source) Lina Sayawesh – Al Hayat

40% concluded of connecting railways stations by the Iraqi optical cables

A source in the Iraqi ministry of transportation said to the ( AL Sharq Al Awsat) this project is the first of its kind in Iraq. This will secure communications and trains traffic between all the governorates through out the country which depends on wireless communications. (Source)Mahdi Al Amiri

Al Sharq Al Awsat

Iraqi Minister of Oil commends Kuwait-Iraq relations

The minister said he held constructive talks with Kuwait's Energy Minister and rotating OPEC Chairman Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, noting that his country has received up to 60 billion US dollars in aid from Kuwait, allocated for education and health.

On oil supply, Bahar Al-Oloum said that there is enough supply in the oil market, but that the OPEC ministerial decision to raise production by 500,000 barrels per day comes to calm consumer concerns and bring stability and balance to the market.

The minister added that there is a surplus of close to one million barrels per day, stressing that oil prices may temporarily drop and then increase once again if new refinery capacity is not introduced to the market.

On Iraq's oil production capacity, he said that over the past two months his country had produced 2.4 million barrels per day of which 1.8 million were for export, adding that production is expected to reach three million barrels.

As for being subjected to OPEC quotas, Bahar Al-Oloum said that the current circumstances of Iraq prevent this and that the issue would be reviewed once production levels reach three million barrels per day.

He explained that Iraq is facing many challenges, the most prominent being that of security, as well as investments in the oil sector which has deteriorated due to years of war and sanctions.

The optimistic plan for Iraq is to bring its production levels to five or six million barrels per day by 2010, stressing that this would need not only national efforts, but also for foreign investments.

Activating joint interests with neighboring states would bring greater security to the region and contribute to a flourishing economy, he concluded. (Source) Kuna

Reconstruction Ministry: Replacing Floating Bridges in Provinces With Stationary Ones

A ministry source said, “A plan that is executed by the roads general administration was set to replace the floating bridges in the country provinces in three stages. The first stage has included 4 locations, which a part of them has been executed. These are Al Mesh’khab Bridge in Najaf, Al Salaheya Bridge in Al Diwania. Those under construction are: Al Fadhlia bridge and Al Bat’haa Bridge in Thi Qar. The second stage includes 7 locations. Al Thawra Bridge in Al Diwania has been executed. As for Al Sendia Bridge in Diala and Om Shawareef in Al Diwania, they are under construction. There are bridges that are hoped to be financed by the World Bank loan, to be executed. These include Al Majd and Al Daraji bridges in Al Motanna, Al Ibrahemia Bridge in Babel and Al Rommana in Al Anbar. As for the third stage, it includes three locations, which are Al saqlawia and Al Be’iji bridges in Salah Eddin and Ghalyoun in Thi Qar. Works to execute them would start in the coming two months.

On the other hand, the source said, “Works are finished in the reconstruction of the suspended 14th of July Bridge, the re-operation of Al Kifl Bridge in Babel and the reconstruction of the lower bridge of the lane going from Baghdad to Al Diwania, through highway No.1, in addition to the reconstruction of the return lane from Al Hella to Baghdad on the same highway. Iraqi cadres were only used (100%). (Source)Baghdad – Mohamed Sa’eed Mustafa

Establishing 10 New Cement Laboratories in Iraq

A ministry official source said, “There are currently 14 cement laboratories in Iraq. They work at an annual design capacity of 14 million tons. On the other hand, their production has retreated to 3 million tons due to the last events, which happened to the production sector and what accompanied the last war of looting, robbery and sabotage operations, in addition to the lack of electricity power, etc. These laboratories need a lot to reach the design levels, the most important of which are investment money, electricity, fuel, rehabilitation and others.” The source added, “The ministry has set an effective plan to increase the production capacity of these laboratories. It actually started applying it with some companies, through financing them from the aids, which we received to use in the rehabilitation works, executing separate electricity power units and not relying on national electricity.”

Baghdad – Wessam Sa’d:

Achievement of 40% of the Works for Connecting Train Station With the Iraqi Optical Cable Project

Its modern optical lengths exceeds 2000 km. It is expected that the works in the project would be finished by the end of this year. An Iraqi transportation ministry source told Al Sharq Al Awsat that this project would be the first of its kind in Iraq and that it would secure communication and the movement of trains among all provinces of the country, which rely on wireless communication.

Al Sharq Al Awsat: Mahdy Al Ameri

Al Bahadli: Our Priorities are Based on Considering Agriculture as the Second Most Prominent Resource of National Economy

While the agricultural departments are supplying with the available supplies of seeds and fertilizers, the agriculture ministry is activating the international agricultural cooperation relations for the objective of supplying with the country needs of supplies of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and the modern technology of agricultural machinery. Dr. Ali Hussein Al Bahadli, agriculture minister, said that the ministry intends to set a plan within the framework of the government political program and the comments of Dr. Al Ja’fari in his call to refrain from relying on single economy, referring to the significance of the production and economic sectors, including agriculture, considering as the permanent oil for Iraq. He clarified that the ministry’s priorities are seeking to apply the comprehensive package of agricultural operations and benefiting from the practical and guidance expertise in developing the agricultural reality.

Al Basra Needs

Mohamed Mosbeh Al Wa’eli, Al Basra governor, said that the province departments are seeking for supplying with seeds, pesticides and agricultural supplies for the farmers and farms in the province. He called the competent departments to hurry in preparing programs and studies that fulfill the current needs to push the process of agricultural development in Basra forward. Al Basra governor has expressed his optimism to achieve a glamorous agricultural future in his province that is still facing great difficulties with regard to the agricultural development, as this sector did not witness any noticeable development for the lack of serious field follow-up of its affairs, especially with regard to establishing agricultural projects in the province, despite the fact that the development facilities and factors are greatly existing in it.

Waset Plan

Waset province agricultural administration ahs started the execution of the items of its agricultural plan for the current season, while the laboratory examinations that were executed by the national environment association have disclosed that the soil of Al Kut city is exposed to dangerous nuclear radiations. Salam Eskander, agriculture manager in Waset province, said that the administration has started the execution of the items of its agricultural plan for the current season for the crops of yellow maize and cotton. He added that the current plan includes planting an area of 100 thousand donums with the yellow maize crop, 21 thousand donums with “Al Shalab” crop, 14 thousand donums with sunflower crop, and 12 thousand donums with cotton. He pointed out that the agriculture department has also established fields of palm trees in an area of 30 donums as a first stage, which includes planting 3000 palm shoots of rare good types. Moreover, two locations were designated to plant olive trees, which are rich in oil, in an area of 10 donums for each location, in addition to two other model locations in Al Kut region and Al Hafreya to establish two model villages for the dedicated farmers and veterinarians in the province.

Amber Rice in Najaf

Najaf agricultural administration has set a studied plan for the season of “Al Shalab” crop in the province, after coordinating with the ministries of electricity and trade and the irrigation administration in the province. Khamat Mourad, agriculture manager in the province, said that the major objective of the plan that was set by the administration in the increase of the production rate of the donum of the amber rice, which is currently between 700 to 800 kg. This production capacity is poor with regard to the other types of rice. Yet, farmers insist on planting the amber rice as its quality and prices are high and it is demanded in global markets. Mourad said that coordination between the agriculture ministry and the general researches administration has resulted in new types of rice with high production rates that suit the climate conditions in Najaf province. These types are Mesh’khab 1, Ibaa’, July, Al Somoud and other Vietnamese types, in addition to the Jasmine type that was planted in limited areas and has succeeded in giving good production rates, as the donum’s production has exceeded 1500 kg. He pointed out that an agreement was reached with the trade ministry to purchase this type at the same price of the amber type.

As for the planted area this season, it would be approximately from 192 to 196 thousand donums. The agricultural supplies and fertilizers were provided for this purpose as the agriculture branches are distributing sufficient amounts of Dap fertilizer, at the rate of 40 kg for each donum. As for the Urea fertilizer, it has been supplied in sufficient amounts and would be supplied after the germination operations.

Maisan’s Agricultural Reality

The agricultural committee in Maisan municipality council has taken procedures and means that would guarantee handling the rise of water levels, the danger of dams, which are suffering from the control of water and that residents are living in low areas, studying returning the marsh lands (Al Ahwar) to their previous conditions, the modern irrigation plan and supporting the agricultural reality. It decided to organize field visit to Om Ne’aj Marshlands and dealing with the problems that hinder the agricultural process, such as the issue of electricity, and addressing the agriculture ministry with regard to the cancellation of the accumulated debts against farmers of the owners of lands with poor production, in addition to handling the issue of the work of humane organizations on establishing schools and clinics.

Al Sabah