Near 40% increase in travelers at Erbil Airport

  


       Erbil International airport , located 7.0 Km North-west of ERBIL city, operates 60 flights a week to and from 25 countries worldwide. The airport was expanded in 2010 and it is claimed its runway is the longest in the Middle East and the fifth on the world level, after China, Russia, South Africa and the U.S.

        In a press release Erbil Airport General Director Talar Fayaq said more than 621, 870 people used the airport in 2011. She predicted the airport could see further increases in the number of visitors and the amount of transported goods in 2012. There is an interview here between Talar and the news source Rudaw which describes 2010 increases. Rudaw does a good job of covering happenings in the Kurdistan region.

      “I expect shipments will increase to Kurdistan via the Erbil International Airport as the needs for imported goods is on the rise in Kurdistan.” Talar said. This also reflects the high safety and security standards that we adhere to, as well as our ambitious plans to be on par with the world’s leading airports by offering state-of-the-art facilities,” she added.

      All economic indicators point towards promising opportunities in Iraq’s civil aviation sector, which is experiencing what has been heralded as a ‘new beginning’. Despite being up against a challenging environment and years of underinvestment and deterioration, significant steps towards the reconstruction of the civil aviation sector have been taken. The country has a clear vision of the world-class facilities that it plans to develop, as well as a strong strategy for rebuilding Iraqi Airways as an international airline. Iraq’s major airports are being rehabilitated, and provincial governments are upgrading existing airports as well as planning the construction of new airports.

Turkey Building New Crossings to Iraq

Source: (www.rudaw.net)


ERBIL, Iraqi Kurdistan -- Turkish authorities say their country is planning to open four new border crossings and a railway between Turkey and Iraq.

The projects are part of an agreement between Iraq and Turkey and are expected to boost trade ties between the two countries. Turkey is currently Iraqi Kurdistan’s major trade partner with about US$6 billion in trade in 2010, according to official Turkish sources.

“Once the new projects are operational, we can divert much of Suez Canal’s business to the Kurdistan Region,” said Hasan Kosa Uglu, the head of foreign relations’ unit at Turkey’s ministry of trade.  

Two of the new borders crossings will be located east of the current major crossing known as Ibrahim Khalil at Habur Bridge. The other two will be west of Ibrahim Khalil.

The projects are within the administrative boundaries of Soran and Amedi districts of the Kurdistan Region. Three of them are expected to be used for visitor crossing between both countries and one is for trade and business.

Ogulu said, "We open these four projects to further strengthen business ties between Iraq and Turkey."

A representative from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) attended the meetings on the border crossings between Iraqi and Turkish officials.

Speaking to Rudaw, Soran Salahaddin, an advisor for the KRG Ministry of Trade, said, “If the KRG does not approve the location of a certain crossing, it won’t be constructed at that location.”

“The opening of the new gates is very important for transferring goods directly to Arab countries and the Gulf region,” Oglu told Rudaw. “It’s very important that Iraq makes proper arrangements on the border with other Arab countries, as it will make Iraq a transit route for goods and that will greatly benefit Iraq’s economy.”

Walid Shaltakh, an official in charge of the Turkey desk at Iraq’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Rudaw that one of the new gates will be used as a railway crossing.

The Iraqi government is also expected to restore an old railway that connects Mosul in the north to Basra, Iraq’s southern port on the Persian Gulf.

As part of the new plan, the Iraqi government will also build a new railway to connect Mosul to Zakho along the Turkish border.

If the Iraqi side of the railway is built, it will connect the country to Turkey's major railway network which links to European rail systems.

Iraq: $43 billion in foreign investment in 2010

  

  

70% Jump in US Companies Considering Iraq

The Iraqi Embassy in Washington DC dealt with nearly 5,000 applications from American companies hoping to do business in Iraq last year, a 70% jump from 2010, according to an article from Chicago Business.

Among the companies mentioned are the Schaumburg, Illinois-based manufacturer Quality Float Works Inc., which mades devices to control liquid flows in machinery.

Another is Navistar International, whose subsidiary Navistar Defense supplied the U.S. military with about 9,000 MRAPs during the occupation. Now it’s aiming to become a commercial truck supplier in Iraq.

Northbrook, Illinois-based NewMedical Technology Inc., which makes a scar-reducing gel, is diving into what company Vice-president Jeff Dziura described as “cumbersome” regulatory paperwork in order to sell in Iraq.

$5.8 Billion Iraqi Debt forgiven

    

     United Arab Emirates Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan said on Monday after a meeting with his Iraqi counterpart and others at the World Future Energy Summit 2012 in Abu Dhabi  that the United Arab Emirates will dismiss $5.8 billion in debts owed by Iraq. During the same meeting his brother, General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, discussed with the Chinese Prime Minister strategic cooperations to restore and safeguard international peace, security and stability. This can be interpreted in a variety of different ways, but there is no disputing that there is a clear alliance being forged between China and Iraq.

     Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan said on Monday after talks with his Iraqi counterpart. “An agreement will be signed soon to lay out the legal framework for waiving old Iraqi debt of $5.8 billion.”

Iraqi foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari thanked the UAE for cancelling the debts, which he said was “a very heavy burden” on Iraq. “The relations between the two states have not stopped over the past ten years, but today we have started the official framework of co-operation,” Zebari said.

      The debt goes as far back as the 1980s when Iraq borrowed money from Gulf states for assistance with Iraq’s long-running war with Iran. The move follows a similar one in 2008, when the UAE wrote off almost $7 billion worth of Iraqi debt left over from the era of Saddam Hussein. Trade between Iraq and the UAE reached more than $4.5 billion last year, the foreign ministers said. Zebari, meanwhile, called cooperation between Iraq and the Gulf Cooperation Council members in security and military areas “good,” adding that it was Iraq’s destiny to be with its sister countries in the Gulf.

67 Billion Dinar allocated to Diyala Province

     A large portion of the Diyala province will receive millions in infrastructure improvement over the next few years due to recent decisions by the Kurdistan Regional Government. The money will be used to improve health, electricity, and education among other projects. Soran Ali Hassan, Khanaqin mayor, said that the money will be for provision of services in Khanaqin, Jalula, Mandali and As Sa'diyah in the next three years at a cost of more than 67 billion dinars in the form of stages. All of these cities are positioned in the Diyala province along the Iran/Iraq border, which is where the Naft Khana Oil Fields are located. The Naft Khana Oil Field is the site of the first oil field discovered in Iraq  in 1923.