TNT:

CandyKisses:  Meet Top Iraqi Officials at IBBC Conference

 Iraq is on the cusp of forming a new Government and is benefitting from high oil revenues and stability.

The IBBC Spring conference is ideally timed for a potential new Government announcement with key players in both oil and finance speaking and sharing their vision of what policies and the future landscape lies in store for Iraq and the private sector.

Iraq is clearly open for business, and we can expect to hear strong indicators of where the economy and investment will be directed and how banks and government expect to achieve this.

Addressing the new government agenda of reforms, we have a panel dedicated to the Iraqi Government White paper, led by Dr Alaa, the executive director or the Prime Minister's reform unit.

It is also expected that the Minister of Oil will announce several investment opportunities that will be discussed in a separate session after the energy panel during the afternoon

This is your opportunity to meet these confirmed speakers: the Minister of Oil H.E. Ihsan Abdul Jabbar Ismaael, the Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, H.E Mr. Mustafa Ghalib Mukheef, Ms Taif Sami, Deputy Minister of finance, the Minister of youth and sport H.E. Adnan Darjal Motar Al-Rubaye, and higher education, as well as a Dr Salem Chalabi, President & Chairman of the Trade Bank of Iraq and a delegation of Iraqi private banks.

 In addition, key IBBC members including BP country director Zaid Elysari, Shell, Total, GE, Siemens, KBR, SKA, Serco, Petronor and Petrofac, PWC, EY, Standard Chartered Bank, JP Morgan, TBI, SAP, Barclays, City and Guilds among many, and from the UK Government Mr Louis Taylor, director of UKEF are attending.

The conference is Tuesday, May  24th, at The Mansion House, in London.

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Tishwash:  Al-Kazemi attacks the Green Zone.. It will not exist anymore

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi detonated a heavy bomb by declaring near the end of the era of the "Green Zone" that was established in the month of April 2003.

During his recent visit, Al-Kazemi pledged the secretariat of Baghdad, a day after the dismissal of its secretary, Alaa Maan, because of The continuing suffering of the people of the capital, which is inhabited by about 12 million people, is that the Green Zone in the center of the security-fortified capital, Baghdad, will return to its previous era, like the rest of the capital’s regions.

 During his tour of the secretariat building, Al-Kazemi confirmed that his visit to the secretariat building aims to directly follow the progress of work, and “we will be in direct contact with you in the coming period,” revealing that “the concept of the green zone must change, and return to its previous era, with their original names.

What is the green zone?

 Al-Kazemi, who leads the “daily caretaker” government, is the second prime minister among the prime ministers who took power after 2003. He deals with the file of the heavily fortified Green Zone, which includes the government palace and the Conference Palace, which includes the buildings of the Iraqi parliament, as well as the location of the US embassy and a number of Another of the headquarters of Arab and foreign embassies.

 The Green Zone also includes the headquarters, offices and homes of a large number of Iraqi leaders and political leaders, and entry is not permitted except with special permits and approvals. However, former Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi had announced the opening of the Green Zone to citizens with the aim of ending traffic congestion, as it occupies a large area on the Karkh side in Baghdad and intersects with many roads, in addition to the desire not to remain a mystery to the ordinary citizen.

 But Abdul-Mahdi's decision at the time collided with American objections, as well as other political forces, especially after they began to be targeted with missiles that were targeting the American embassy.

 As a result, movement in it was restricted, so that it was limited to certain hours during the day and via one road from Airport Street to the suspension bridge. However, what is new in Al-Kazemi’s announcement is to end its name “Green Zone” and return to its old name, which is Al-Taqseh neighborhood and Karada Maryam.

 While it is expected that Al-Kazemi’s decision will receive a great popular welcome due to the negative view that the Iraqi citizen holds to the Green Zone, the decision may face objections from political forces, and if it is not able to announce an explicit rejection of the decision, but rather tries to continue to object to his powers as prime minister of a government that manages daily affairs.

 It is noteworthy that the strong fortifications inside the Green Zone and at its outer walls prevented the occurrence of major explosions in it, such as those that were taking place in Baghdad daily for more than 12 years, leaving tens of thousands of victims. Throughout the years of the bombing, which were reduced to bloody days such as Bloody Wednesday, Bloody Thursday and Bloody Sunday, the Iraqis used to call the rest of the capital, Baghdad, outside the walls of the Green Zone, the “red zone.”

 In addition, Al-Kazemi directed, in conjunction with his decision, to return the Green Zone to its old designations, by launching hygiene campaigns in terms of work towards a clean Baghdad. He said that "Baghdad today is experiencing great suffering and clear neglect, despite the government's support to advance the reality of the capital," expressing regret that he sees "Baghdad in this state of crowding, and the impact of the absurd planning of the influential people; This caused real estate prices to rise in certain areas of the city.”

 He stressed that "we must reorganize projects, and work to raise the manifestations that are not appropriate for an ancient capital like Baghdad," noting that "it is very shameful that citizens' transactions are not completed except by paying bribes, and you are required to work on automating work in honesty departments. Baghdad to eliminate corruption and provide services faster and more. link

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Tishwash:  Jordan and Iraq cooperate in the areas of exploiting natural wealth

Yesterday, Thursday, Jordan and Iraq signed a memorandum of understanding stipulating the preparation of a joint project proposal for the development of industrial raw materials and rocks as an opportunity for investment and the establishment of a joint geological database and cooperation in the field of manpower training.

In the presence of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Dr. Saleh Al-Kharabsheh, and the Iraqi Minister of Industry and Minerals, Manhal Khabbaz, the memorandum was signed by the Assistant Secretary-General for Energy Affairs at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Eng. Hassan Al-Hiyari, and the head of the Iraqi technical delegation, Engineer Rafid Abdul-Jalil Jabbar.

Regarding the elements of the memorandum, Minister Kharabsheh said in a press statement after the signing that the two countries agreed to establish and integrate a geological database along the common border areas between the two brotherly countries, to be completed before the end of this year.

He explained that the two sides agreed to prepare a proposal for joint projects to develop raw materials and industrial rocks as an investment opportunity, including upgrading raw materials for phosphate rocks and using them in manufacturing industries to raise economic feasibility and upgrade raw materials for silica sand rocks and develop them into industrial raw materials of high purity that can be invested to raise their economic feasibility.

The two sides also agreed, according to Minister Kharabsheh, to prepare a joint training program in which manpower will be exchanged during, stressing that before the end of the year a number of measures will be taken to activate joint cooperation and complete the program agreed upon by the two parties.

Minister Kharabsheh stressed the importance of the memorandum of understanding in line with the ministry's interest in exploiting natural resources and launching a number of projects in this regard.
He said that the ministry has published a number of investment opportunities on natural resources in a number of regions of the Kingdom, and that work is underway to exploit natural resources in light of what the world is going through and its repercussions on the issue of food and food chains.

For his part, the Iraqi minister described the results of the work of the technical committees between the two countries as positive and the cooperation between the two countries has been going on for four months to reach these results, stressing the importance of the two countries' cooperation in the field of natural resources in response to the interest of the leaderships of the two countries to exploit these resources as alternatives to energy, especially silica ore.

Minister Khabbaz pointed to the importance of working to reduce carbon emissions and the importance of the presence of phosphates and sulfur and their inclusion in the agricultural process as fertilizers due to the importance of their results on food security and climate change.

He referred to timetables on joint cooperation, the results of which will appear within six months.  link

Mot: My Mum Always Said NOT to Lie.. then She ~~

Mot:  ... Just Saying! ~~~~~