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Iraq (1) -- News -- 2010
Kurdistan means business
26.06.2010
Last week, more than 600 delegates from across the globe headed to London for a conference on investment opportunities in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
As the rest of Iraq continues to be beset by political wrangling, terrorist attacks and violent protests bemoaning the lack of electricity,
Kurdistan continues to look more and more like an independent state. This was the underlying message to be taken from the conference –
that the business opportunities in Kurdistan are also opportunities to play a role in the building of a nation.
And where better to start than with oil, the foundation of any future independent Kurdish state.
Ashti Hawrami, the Kurdistan regional government's experienced oil minister who continues to successfully pioneer Kurdistan's energy sector,
despite formidable challenges from Baghdad and a failed smear campaign, gave a strong presentation that showed exactly what was at stake.
Iraq (1) -- Analyses -- 2010
Business and oil
26.06.2010
Before 2003, Kurdistan was importing oil from neighbouring countries at grossly inflated prices. Now, things have changed.
Foreign companies have been awarded 37 contracts and the region has become a net exporter of oil.
Oil exports are currently halted, but are expected to resume in the coming months.
Specifically, Kurdistan expects to export at least 100,000 barrels per day and this figure should rise to 200,000 by the end of the year.
By 2014 Kurdistan should be exporting at least 1m barrels per day, which equates with a 50% increase in revenue not just for the Kurds but the whole of Iraq –
a point that Hawrami was keen to stress.
An effective energy policy also leads to increased electricity. Before Hawrami's arrival in 2006, Kurdistan had an average of just two to four hours of electricity.
It now has more than 18 hours in the major cities and an average of 12-18 hours throughout the region.
Kurdistan has also attracted more than $12bn-worth of non-oil investments from local and foreign investors over the last three-and-a-half years,
mainly in housing, agriculture and banking. This is largely thanks to a liberal foreign investment law ratified in 2006,
with incentives for foreign investors including ownership of land, a 10-year tax break and the repatriation of profits –
terms more favourable than those offered by Baghdad.
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Bulgarian