Iraqi-international coordination to begin implementing the “electric bus” in Baghdad
The Ministry of Transport has begun activating the electric bus project in Baghdad, as part of its plan to reduce traffic congestion, in coordination with the World Bank.
Director of the Ministry's Media Office, Maytham Al-Safi, explained, "The Ministry seeks to restart mass transportation projects in the capital, Baghdad, as it serves many segments of people with limited income, in addition to reducing the traffic congestion that the city witnesses on a daily basis and the environmentally polluting emissions it produces."
He pointed to "coordination in this regard with the World Bank to implement the electric bus project, or the so-called (Baghdad Bus Project), to provide support to the Ministry of Transport, specifically the General Company for Passenger Transport, for the purpose of purchasing modern electric buses that transport citizens within the capital."
He noted "the identification of mass transportation routes in Baghdad and the modern mechanisms included in the project, as well as the preparation of comprehensive studies and the employment of available resources to make the work successful in it, as well as setting a time frame for its launch," pointing out that "the project will not be limited to the capital and will include a number of governorates, Including the governorates of Dhi Qar, Salah al-Din, and Anbar, provided that its activation in the rest of the governorates will be studied successively.”
Al-Safi stated, “The Ministry has begun implementing mass transportation plans, by sending red buses to operate on the main streets in Baghdad and the governorates and determining their routes, in addition to organizing the work of public transportation garages and introducing the latest electronic systems to follow up on violations within them, in addition to rehabilitating a large number of them.” link
According to the local bank staff members were going in today, with more going in tomorrow with a purpose to make appointments to exchange foreign currency and Zim Bonds. The numbers for Tier4a,b (Us, the Internet Group) to make appointments could come out tomorrow Wed. 24 Jan.
PDK Note: I will only transcribe RV Related or Intel with Financial relevance. If any certain political –type picture is posted on Marks videos I will not show it. If it’s a stream mainly about politics…I will not do notes.
Thank you MarkZ for all your time, and encouragement daily….. PDK
MarkZ Update- Some highlights by PDK-Not verbatim
MarkZ Disclaimer: Please consider everything on this call as my opinion. People who take notes do not catch everything and its best to watch the video so that you get everything in context. Be sure to consult a professional for any financial decisions
Coffee with MarkZ and Andy Schectman. 01/24/2024
Member: Good morning Everybody! Will MarkZ have exciting news for us this morning?
Member: Rod Steele posted last night that his bond contacts are expected to be paid today and we are expected to get notifications Friday morning.
MZ: That is definitely the rumors running around. . Let’s see if it pans out or not.
Member: I do hope this one time he is correct. Bond people have been hopeful for years.
MZ: My bond folks have not been paid yet but they have great expectations for the 24th. They have been saying this for a couple weeks. I know a number of them expected payments 2 days ago and have not received it yet. But they are receiving a number of assurances. And yes…a number of them are now under NDA’s.
MZ: Yes I am hearing from some that they are expecting notifications this Friday/Saturday. I hope they are right.
Member: What is to keep the US Treasury from keeping the delay of their approval of this going?
MZ: I believe Iraq will be going no matter what. They are painting the US and Central banks into a corner to force them to let it go. And we know the world is lined up and waiting for this. It is inevitable.
MZ: Right now we are watching an implosion in China. “Trade settlement in Chinese RMD (Renminbi) soars 600%”
MZ: “China moves to boost bank lending in broad effort to prop up growth” How? They want to remove the Basel requirements. China is on the ropes and needs an asset backed reset.
MZ: “ South Africa will favor the development of the Africa Continental Free Trade area within the BRICS framework” What they are working on is a free trade zone and economic cooperation within all the African Continent nations.
MZ: Why is this important? Because they are doing this within the BRICS framework. Africa is one of the wealthiest continents in the world for natural resources. And they are doing this within the BRICS framework…or outside Western banking. So this will have a huge impact economically.
Member: Do you think it is still possible that things go this month?
MZ: I think it’s possible. I am hopeful we will at least get announcements this month …even if we have not yet made it into the banks.
Member: What’s the impact of Iraq joining the Bank of international Settlements?
MZ: I guess you are referring to last night podcast. It’s their acceptance and elevation to the World Trade Organization and all the other organizations they were removed from when they were sanctioned many years ago. These sanctions are quickly al going away which means they will be able to reinstate or revalue their currency.
MZ: It is just one more clear indicator of how close we are getting.
Member: If Iraq central bank is now listed on BIS website. Makes them OK for International transactions.
Thanks Mark and Andy…..Hope everyone has a great day today.
Andy Schectman joins the stream today. Please listen to the replay for his information and opinions.
“THE INFORMATION IN THIS PODCAST IS FOR GENERAL & EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. NOT INTENDED TO PROVIDE ANY PROFESSIONAL & LEGAL ADVICE.” PLEASE CONSIDER EVERYTHING DISCUSSED IS IN MARKZ’S OPINION ONLY.
Urgent Iraq is preparing a complaint to the Security Council against the American bombing
The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the American bombing on Popular Mobilization Forces positions in the Babil and Anbar governorates at dawn on Wednesday.
Its statement stated, "The government of the Republic of Iraq expresses its strong denunciation and condemnation of the American aggression against the provinces of Babylon and Anbar, represented by the bombing of safe Iraqi military places with large bombs, which led to casualties among members of the security forces."
The statement added, "The government of the Republic of Iraq considers this behavior an aggression against the sovereignty of Iraq and the security of the Iraqi people, and an abuse of the implementation of the security agreement between the United States and Iraq and reflects strongly on the security of the region."
The statement indicated that the Iraqi government "confirms that it will take all legal measures against him, including submitting a complaint to the UN Security Council." link
I had a very difficult time writing this Newsletter for my blog today. It was difficult because I have some good news and some bad news. But even in the midst of the bad news, to which I will explain, the process of financial reform continues and is still moving ahead piece by piece.
First the bad news of today. This news is negative because it impacts the SECUIRTY of Iraq. We all have read articles from the CBI that they needed SECURITY and STABILITY in order to conduct the final stages/steps of the monetary reform. So, the US Treasury Department announced, on Monday, the designation of no-fly sanctions on the Iraqi airline “Fly Baghdad” and its CEO providing assistance to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard “Qods Force” and its proxy groups in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. You can read the full article below in the Articles Section.
The second piece of negative news is that on Monday, a number of citizens of the Kurdistan Region expressed their support to call a boycott on Iranian products. This was announced by the Erbil Chamber of Commerce, after the capital of the Kurdistan Region as it was subjected to a violent Iranian attack. While they described the boycott as “economic punishment” for Tehran, they stressed that the boycott will be a popular response to the “crimes” committed by Iran against Iraq in general. You can read the full article below in the Articles Section. So, you see President Trump was right again. You have to place economic sanctions on Iran as it is the only way they learn to behave. Can Iraq find these products elsewhere? I am so happy that finally Iraq is facing Iran for what they are. Maybe these attacks on their cities and the US forces finally woke them up to reality. But didn’t I tell everyone way back in 2004 that if Iraq so freely lets these Iranian militia in to their country to fight ISIS this will come to haunt them for a very long time.
One would think there should have been agreements in force at that time that would have expelled these militia from Iraq after the defeat of ISIS. This would give Iraq legal justification now to expel them, by force, if necessary. Remember reading all these articles over the decade since from Iraq on what the hell to do with all these thousands of armed militia. They are taking the jobs of Iraqi forcefully and forming gangs to enforce their will. Remember they are armed. This is the Iranian way of trying to force Iraq to get rid of any American combat troops in Iraq. Get rid of the US forces and the attacks will stop, they claim. Really? Oh… boy would hey luv to fill the gap and occupy Iraq permanently. Maybe now Iraq is waking up to just how horrible the Iranian dictator is. So far Iraq has been very patient with Iran as they are their major trading partner and so -called “Muslim brothers”. But patients are growing thin with Iran and we can see it beginning now.
These bombings in Erbil also hurt the Iraqi economy says an expert in economic and tourism affairs, Sirwan Ibrahim, confirmed today, Monday (January 22, 2024), that Erbil has been, during the past period, a stop for tourists and businessmen from countries around the world who want to establish projects in Iraq and make Erbil their headquarters and depart from there to other governorates. Ibrahim told “Baghdad Today” that “Erbil was a station for holding seminars, workshops, and courses for international organizations,” noting that “all of these matters contribute to reviving the tourism sector, as they use hotels, restaurants, markets, and the city’s airport.” So, we can see how this Iranian bombings must end and stability returned back to Iraq.
While he noted and I quote – “If this conflict continues, it will decline further because tourists will search for other alternatives, in addition to the bad economic situation that the city in particular and the region in general is going through.”
So, here is the good news. 😊 These events are NOT going to stop the Iraqi dinar currency reform as part of the financial reforms. Why? I have already told everyone in past news from my CBI contact that the currency reform is beyond the stage already to be able to appropriately stop it. There is just too much at stake not to continue the process. It is moving ahead, however these events may just delay it, NOT stop it. Remember I was told they fully intended to conduct the Project to Delete the Zeros last December and to reinstate the dinar in early January. Can you see how events have impacted their plan but not stop it. I intend to verify again these statements are still true with my CBI contact on my Wednesday call to Iraq. Stay tuned!
What else is in the news?
On the sidelines of the Davos Forum in its 54th session held in Switzerland last week, Iraqi Prime Minister Al-Sudani and his accompanying delegation, and Ali Al-Alaq, Governor of the Central Bank, continued to hold meetings, understandings, and negotiations with the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction, the American bank, J.P. Morgan, and international financial institutions, with the aim of accelerating the procedures that… and I quote – “It is implemented by the government in cooperation with the Central Bank towards achieving financial and banking reform”. I won’t get into specifically what they talked about as you can scroll down and read the full article below in the Articles Section for yourself. It is all VERY GOOD news for us investors.
Also good news in the Economy News – Baghdad is that a member of the Parliamentary Services Committee, Baqir Al-Saadi, confirmed on Saturday the government’s intention to lay the foundation stone for the construction of 10 new cities during the first quarter of 2024. Progress finally in rebuilding the Iraqi cities from the wars.
We see that next week sessions are scheduled with Central Bank of Iraq officials next week in order to coordinate and support the market. In an article today they tell us the parallel market rate is down to 2000 which is still far from the CBI official rate of 1320. So, we can see that the CBI is still addressing this issue and has to find ways to address three main factors effecting the rate.
In a statement received by Mawazine News, the ministry said that “Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein gave a lecture at the International Diplomatic Academy in Vienna entitled (Middle East 2024.. Challenges and Opportunities),” He pointed out to “the development of the democratic process in Iraq and the recent elections of local councils, and I quote from his lecture – “Iraq’s endeavor to occupy its natural position in the region and the international community”. What does this mean? Part of what it means for us investors in the dinar is to realize that when they mention international community, they are talking global. Yes, this means liberating Iraq from the war years. It is a FACT they cannot operate effectively in the global arena without a tradable currency on the currency exchanges, such as FOREX. Iraq is also at the sheer brink of a final announcement into the World Trade Organization (WTO), which we know they want back their dinar in the process.
Just hang on folks. I don’t want to give false hope, but I believe that when you put all the FACTS together you can clearly see where they are leading Iraq and it is down a very nice road of prosperity and abundance. However, like many developing nations to be great and play with the giants there are obstacles to overcome.
We must stay diligent and keep praying for I truly believe it was your prayers and prayers of thousands like you that is bringing us closer and closer to the target. Remember again this is not all about us investors. It is about the Iraqi people and their lives. We will only benefit too because we helped invest our money in Iraq in their time of need.
God put the oil (black gold) in the ground for them to use. But the dark elements always seem to creep in to steel it away. We see this too all over many biblical stories in the Old Testament – nothing new. The important part about Iraq will be written in history later as to how they persevered to overcome all obstacles. They will in Iraq too but we must pray that these dark elements are eliminated and Iraq can rebuild its schools, churches, hospitals, shopping centers, hotels and tourist attractions. You don’t think the Iraqi people pray too? So, with their prayers and ours God is answering our call for help.
Having Iran as a neighbor with the Kud forces and militias at bay in Iraq does not help the situation, but nothing is impossible with God and so we must pray and just keep praying. The progress of our prayers over 2023 was almost unbelievable. I have never seen such a rate of progress since the end of the wars in 2003 and I entered this investment.
و سـنـعــوس } ABU SNWE @snwse21 2h Really glorious. Ask any Iraqi about the subject and he will give you the same answer Money exchangers in...