Wednesday, July 17, 2024
IRA BOOTS ON THE GROUND REPORT BY FIREFLY, 17 JULY
Frank26 [Iraq boots-on-the-ground report]
FIREFLY:Sudani said we have a new currency...
Al-Sudani directs to disrupt official working hours for next Wednesday, 17 JULY
Baghdad – Mawazine News
The Prime Minister, Mohammed Shiaa Al-Sudani, directed today, Monday, to disrupt official working hours for next Wednesday.
The Prime Minister’s Media Office said in a statement that the Sudanese “directed the disruption of official working hours on Wednesday, 17/7/2024 in all government ministries and institutions, coinciding with the tenth of Muharram, the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, peace be upon him, on the day of Ashura.”
Iraq invites private companies to operate Baghdad airport, 17 JULY
BAGHDAD, IRAQ (AFP) – Iraqi authorities called on international private sector companies to bid for the expansion and operation of Baghdad’s international airport after years of neglect in the conflict-scarred country.
In September, the government signed an agreement with the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) to invite private companies to upgrade Iraq’s main airport.
Iraq “is launching a two-stage public tender to select a private partner to rehabilitate, expand, finance, operate, and maintain Baghdad International Airport under a long-term Public-Private Partnership (PPP) contract,” according to the official document calling for bidders and seen by AFP Tuesday.
It is the “first time that the Iraqi government, in cooperation with the IFC, opens its airports to private international investment,” Farhad Alaaldin, the prime minister’s foreign affairs adviser, told AFP.
It is “a step that will elevate the aviation sector to international standards”, he added.
The deadline to submit bids is September 12, and the winner “is expected to modernise and rehabilitate the airport infrastructure, expand passenger and cargo terminal facilities… and operate and maintain the airport in line with international best practise,” the document added.
The IFC, according to the document, “is acting as the lead transaction advisor for this PPP project”.
Alaaldin said the tender process relies “on the IFC to have oversight over the project from its inception and to work on the economic model”.
The IFC’s involvement, it is hoped, will “give more confidence to the world class companies to bid”, Alaaldin said.
“Iraq is open for business and inward investment is on the rise,” he added.
Last month, Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani’s media office said an IFC study showed “a compound annual growth rate of 15.7 percent in air traffic” in recent years, with over 3.4 million passengers arriving in Baghdad in 2023.
It said the IFC proposed building a new terminal to increase airport capacity to up to nine million passengers per year.
Baghdad’s airport has undergone no substantial renovations since it opened in the early 1980s under dictator Saddam Hussein’s rule.
It was closed in the 1990s due to international sanctions, forcing people to travel by land to neighbouring Jordan to catch their flights.
Baghdad airport is quickly overwhelmed when travel peaks, and its three terminals are equipped with only basic amenities.
Troops belonging to an international anti-jihadist coalition are stationed in a part of the airport, and have previously come under fire.
Oil-rich Iraq suffers from deteriorating infrastructure and failing public services as a result of decades of conflict, poor public management and endemic corruption.
"RV UPDATE" BY MARKZ, 17 JULY
MarkZ
[via PDK] I am...hearing that we are in the window for the release of the budget and it will be in the Gazette soon. I am blown away from the information out of Iraq...
I am hearing from multiple sources inside Iraq that they are expecting an RI (Re-Instatement) at any moment. I had been told very specifically that they expect a rate of $3.86. I am getting this from so many sources now …all of a sudden…today…that it has become almost overwhelming...I think this is exciting news and am hoping it is accurate...Just buckle up and stay calm.
I did hear interesting things from a couple banking contacts that things have very much moved over the weekend and that they may be using the Republican convention as a distraction to roll things out.
GOLDILOCKS: WTO ACCESSION PROGRESS OF IRAQ , 24 NOV
GOLDILOCKS The Secretariat plans to organize a Round Table to discuss Iraq's technical assistance needs to further facilitate its acces...
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Frank26 [Bank story] This time we didn't go down, we just called [the bank]... We said we want to see if we can exchange some cu...
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Bank appointment for Currency EXCHANGE Instructions/Checklist Bank Name_________________________________________ Bank 800#____________...
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Walkingstick All these meetings that the CBI had with all these agencies that were helping them with their monetary reform are done. Al...