humveee

WesternZagros has struck oil at the Kurdamir site: http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2010/12/16/westernzagros-strikes-oil-at-kurdamir-shares-jump/

http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2010/12/15/un-ends-iraqs-saddam-era-sanctions/ http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2010/12/15/full-details-of-un-statement-on-iraq/ http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2010/12/15/iraq-chapter-vii-what-people-are-saying/

http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2010/12/11/iraq-everything-imaginable-needs-to-be-rebuilt/

Great artists impression of the new Basra Sports City: http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2010/12/13/basra-sport-city-to-host-gulf-cup-of-nations/ Wonder if it will really look like that.

Looking at the latest news on Iraq Business News: http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2010/12/14/frances-schneider-wins-basra-power-contract/ http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2010/12/13/turks-win-11-3-billion-sadr-city-project/ (This is the Sadr City thing - huge contract!) And there are lots of other turkish and french contracts listed there over the past weeks. Are they getting all the good stuff?

This is good stuff! http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2010/12/11/iraq-everything-imaginable-needs-to-be-rebuilt/

"Cork Telecom" - pretty sure that should be "Korek"

Some interesting analysis here from Mark DeWeaver at Iraq Business News, saying increasing oil output will not necessarily lead to a stronger dinar: http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2010/12/07/history%E2%80%99s-lesson-for-the-dinar/ Anyone got any thoughts?

According to this piece, Iraq needs 2.5 million new homes: http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2010/11/29/private-funding-needed-to-build-2-5m-homes/ But previously they were saying 1 million homes: http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2010/10/27/125-companies-bidding-to-build-1-million-houses-in-iraq/ Which is it??? (Either way, I guess it's still a lot of activity)

Full story at http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2010/11/30/over-100m-new-arms-sales-to-iraq/

I wonder if, when they start to design new iraqi bank notes, a little pop-up will ask: "Are you trying to re-denominate the Iraqi Dinar? Do you need some help with that?" Full story: http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2010/11/22/microsoft-makes-first-trip-to-kurdistan/

Apparently you can get travel insurance to Iraq online now: http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2010/11/08/iraq-tourism-receives-added-boost/ Not sure I'll be going, but the picture looks good!

Apparently Allawi has been abandoned by a big chunk of his team: "Iraq Business News has received information late on Sunday that between 30 and 34 politicians have defected from Iyad Allawi‘s Iraqiya bloc, and will support Nouri al-Maliki‘s bid to form the next Iraqi government." More details: http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2010/11/07/breaking-news-iraqiya-politicians-defect-govt-being-formed/

a $90,000 one-off to cover 'personal expenses' for the 4 yrs, which they have claimed already. $22,500 a month in salaries and allowances. out of office, they get 80 percent of their salary monthly for life And the list continues ... That’s what they get for attending the only session of parliament since the March elections, a session that lasted about 20 minutes. To cap it all, they haven’t passed a single law! Amazing!! http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2010/11/01/scandal-of-iraqs-politicians-overpaid-and-underperforming/

Iraq May Earn $4.2 trillion from Oilfield Development: http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2010/10/25/iraq-may-earn-4-2-trillion-from-oilfield-development/ That's an immense amount of money!

Not sure what to make of these two reports: Allawi U-Turn on Oil Contracts? http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2010/10/25/allawi-u-turn-on-oil-contracts/ $3bn Iraq/US F-16 Deal at Risk? http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2010/10/25/3bn-iraqus-f-16-deal-at-risk/ Are they starting to lose their nerve and wimp out on deals?

Interesting, thanks! (Found original article at http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2010/10/21/the-future-for-the-iraqi-dinar/)

From: http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2010/10/13/iraqs-image-is-set-to-change/ Excerpt: "When many people think of Iraq, they think only of wars, decades of high inflation, blistering sun, and power cuts, but the people clinging to this outdated and narrow image of the country will not be the winners in the new Iraq. : : Who knows, in the future, when people think of Iraq, they’ll be thinking of Gucci, Talisker, and fine modern buildings."

According to one article, Basrah is the new Hong Kong: “The American companies could transform Basra to a city similar to Hong Kong because it has a lot of special aspects that are not found in other Iraqi provinces”. (From http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2010/10/12/basra-to-be-the-next-hong-kong/ ) And another says it is Italy – I think it will be a long time before a mall in Basrah looks like that: http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2010/10/12/italian-style-coming-to-basra/ Which is it, for crying out loud, Hong Kong or Italy? Either way, the city and the country must be on the way up!

$900m contracts for power plants: http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2010/10/11/900m-power-plant-contracts-awarded/

Some interesting ideas here ... ISX could be in for a bounce: http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2010/10/11/will-the-isx-join-the-emerging-markets-breakout/