TNT:

Tishwash:  Iraq and India sign a memorandum of understanding in all fields

urgent 

▪ Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs and Minister of Oil stresses the importance of expanding the horizons of cooperation between the two countries and considers India an important trade partner for Iraq

▪Indian Minister of Energy Oil and Natural Gas  We want to develop trade relations with Iraq 

The Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs and Minister of Oil stressed the importance of developing and expanding the horizons of bilateral cooperation with the Republic of India in all fields, including economic, trade, financial, technical, health, agricultural, cultural and others.

This came during the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with his Indian counterpart, Minister of Oil, Natural Gas, Housing and Urban Affairs, Mr. Hardeep Pureh, in the Indian capital, New Delhi.

The Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs and Minister of Oil, Mr. Hayan Abdul Ghani, said that Iraq considers India an important trading partner and one of the most important importers of Iraqi crude oil.

Abdul-Ghani indicated the keenness of the two friendly countries to activate and expand the horizons of bilateral cooperation through the activation of the memorandum of understanding, which includes several axes, including trade, financial, energy, economic, industrial, scientific, health, technical, agricultural, cultural and consular cooperation, training and exchange of experiences and other axes that serve common interests, welcoming Indian companies. investment to work in Iraq and in all fields.

For his part, the Minister of Oil, Natural Gas, Housing and Urban Affairs of the Republic of India, Mr. Hardeep Pureh, said,"The Iraqi-Indian relations are witnessing a great development, stressing the depth of historical relations between the two countries and India's keenness to be an important trading partner for Iraq, and is keen to strengthen these relations in all areas, stressing the desire of Indian investment companies to implement important projects in Iraq.

 It is noteworthy that the Iraqi side in the committee included the ministries of Oil, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Industry, Agriculture, Transport, Water Resources, Housing and Construction, Electricity, Ministry of Communications, Education, Culture, Higher Education, Labor and Social Affairs, Civil Aviation Authority , The Central Bank of Iraq, in addition to the private sector.  link

************

CandyKisses:  A meeting of the Central Bank of Iraq on changes in the dollar rate in the informal markets

Baghdad - Iraq Today:

The Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Council discussed  changes in the dollar rate in informal markets.

A statement by the Central Bank of Iraq said that "the governor of the bank, Chairman of the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Council, Ali Mohsen Al-Alaq, chaired today, the regular session of the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Council."

The statement added that "the Council hosted the Director General of the Legal Department and the Director General of the Real Estate Registration Department at the Ministry of Justice to discuss the mechanism for applying due diligence controls to combat money laundering and terrorist financing in the real estate registration departments."

He continued: "The Council reviewed the steps and preparations for the mutual assessment of the Republic of Iraq to be held next August."

He pointed out that "the Council has taken a number of decisions in this regard with the aim of maintaining Iraq's advanced position in the control measures that resulted in its exit from the gray zone in the international classification for 2018."

He pointed out that, "Discussing the developments in the exchange rate of the currency "dollar" in the informal markets and the measures taken by the Central Bank of Iraq in this regard."

************

Tishwash:  IBBC hosts well attended Conference at The Mansion House

On June 16th IBBC hosted it's best attended London Conference at The Mansion House yet, with over 280 delegates from Iraq, UK, and International European and Middle East countries.

With an overarching theme of 'Iraq open to the world' a wide range of panels discussed Iraq's rapidly improving international position across economic indicators, political relationships, and security. Baroness Nicholson, IBBC President, welcomed delegates, The Lord Mayor spoke of London's importance as a financial centre and Lord Ahmed (Minister of State for the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and United Nations) presented an upbeat outline of UK's trading and political relationship with Iraq including significant increase in bilateral trade in the last year. 

Professor Hamid Khalaf Ahmed, Executive Director for the Higher Committee for Education Development in Iraq & Advisor to the Prime Minister, spoke on behalf of the Iraqi Prime Minster, to reiterate the determination of the GOI to see through its five priorities, including setting a budget and delivering on targets for corruption and infrastructure development, increase in public sector jobs and investment in education at all levels of Iraqi society. 

Dr Mohammed Shukri, Chairman, Kurdistan Board of Investment outlined a focus on diverse investment opportunities including agriculture, tech, and infrastructure in the KRG. Two prominent sponsors Mr Sardar Al Bebany, IBBC Executive Committee Member, CEO & Chairman, Sardar Group and Mr Amet Selman, CEO, AAA Holding Group offered their thanks to IBBC audience and outlined their commitment and importance to investing in their people and businesses in Iraq.

Three strong focus areas emerged from the conference, and were reflected in the panels along with other important topics:

Finance, chaired by Mr John Curtin, Ernst & Young Iraq, Included panellists Mr Haider F. Al-Shamaa, International Islamic Bank; Mr Tim Palmer, UK Export Finance; Mr Salahuddin Al-Hadeethi, Ministry of Finance; Dr Yasser Hassan, National Bank of Egypt; Mr Raed Hanna, Mutual Finance Ltd

Energy; Chaired by Mr Luay Al Khateeb, Centre on Global Energy Policy - Columbia U. With a keynote Address from: Mr Laith Al Shaher, Deputy Minister of Oil. Panellists included: Dr Abdulhamzah Hadi Abood, the Advisor from the Ministry of Electricity; Mr Laith Al Shaher, Ministry of Oil; Mr Andrew Wiper, Basrah Gas Company; Mr Mushhood Haider, Scotland Trade, and Investment; Mr Ali Al Janabi, Shell Iraq and UAE; Ms Sara Akbar,

And keynote discussion on Iraq Open to the World.

Professor Frank Gunter opened the discussion with a keynote presentation of the key findings of his report ''Seaports and Airports of Iraq: Rules Versus Infrastructure' (see separate briefing here)

Chairman Mrs Hadeel Hasan Al Hadeel Al Hasan LLC led the discussion including, panellists: Professor Frank Gunter, Lehigh University; Mr Steve Alexander; Sardar Group; Mr Richard Cotton, AAA Holdings; Mr Hassan Heshmat, Hydro-C; H.E. Bader Mohammad Alawadi, Ambassador of the State of Kuwait.

Significant panels also included.

Education and skills roundtable; of acute importance due to the technical demands on Iraq's expanding economy and the need to upgrade university courses and overseas scholarship support for 5,000 Iraqi students from the GOI, Chaired by Professor Mohammed Al Uzri (IBBC Health and Education Advisor) with Professor Hamid Khalaf Ahmed responding to questions and outlining the GOI plans for education with IBBCs University and skills members.

An emergent theme of growing importance is 'Heritage', as a business and culturally important sector, chaired by: Professor Mohammed Al Uzri, with Dr John McGinnis, The British Museum; with Prof Gamal Abdelmonem, Nottingham Trent University, Mr Ali Al Makhzomy, Bilweekend; Dr Rosalind Wade Haddon, British Institute for the Study of Iraq; Professor Chris Whitehead, Newcastle University.

During the day there were also a KRG roundtable discussions with Dr Mohammed Shukri and a full complement of KRG businesses and chambers of commerce, A Tech forum on 'The digitisation of Iraq. Chaired by Ashley Goodall of IBBC, including Mr Saquib Ahmed, MD SAP Iraq; Mr Padraig O'Hannelly, Iraq Business News; Mr Mohsen Garcia, CEO 1001 Media; Mr Peter Chamberlin, Scott Logic, Ms Cynthia El Khoury, Mastercard Iraq; Mr Ali Al-Khairalla, Embassy of the Republic of Iraq (available to view here)

 A special ceremony awarded The Rasmi Al Jabri Award (for Iraqi companies dedicated to best international practices and significant growth of Investment and turnover). This year the winners are AAA Holding and Mr Amet Selman for their work for successfully providing fertilizers to the Iraqi market in conjunction with the GOI and third-party agricultural groups. (Video link here).

The conference was preceded by an ebullient reception for over 150 delegates the previous evening at the Institute of engineers, where Prof. Dr Sabih G. Khisaf (of Hyperloop Dubai) gave a talk on the importance of engineering and his work on the hyperloop and hosted by John Scott of IBBC.

Christophe Michels, MD of IBBC who chaired the conference commented 'This is our 11th Iraq Day at The Mansion House and probably the most successful we have had yet. Iraq is rapidly developing, building on a stable budget, good security, political stability, and increasingly good relations with her neighbours.

Now is the time for Iraq to truly embrace business and to cut down on outdated bureaucracy, regulations and the corruption going hand in hand with these.

If this does not happen, the country risks missing out on all the new opportunities arising from finally opening to the world.

As IBBC we are optimistic and will continue to lend our support to our Members and the wider Iraqi community'.

IBBC Spring Conference 2023 Sponsors:

Principal Sponsor: AAA Holding Group

Gold Sponsors: Sardar Group & Trade Bank of Iraq

Bronze Sponsors: Standard Chartered Bank & Hydro - C

To attend future events, including the Iraq SME conference, July 6th, and IBBC Autumn conference in Dubai, Dec 8th, please follow our website.  link

Mot:  .... Airports! They're stressful! 

Mot:  .. Truly Amazing What Sum Peoples Worry About!! ~~~