Infrastructure & Finance news in South Kurdistan

[brendar]

ERBIL, August 25 (AKnews) – A delegation of British businessmen and investors will visit the Kurdistan Region next week to improve trade relations between both sides.

Head of Kurdistan's Chamber of Commerce and Industry Dara Jalil Khayat said: "A big delegation of 20 British investors and businessmen, who represent seven giants in their country, will visit the region on September 2.

"The delegation will stay six days and most of them work in the oil, construction and industrial sectors in their country."

Head of relations at the chamber Azad Ahmed said: "The delegation's intention is to visit the Kurdistan Regional Government's ministries and directorates to discuss enhancing relations between both countries and to facilitate procedures for British companies to come to the region."

The delegation will also meet company owners and traders in the region to bridge future relations.

http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/2/322986/

[alan131210]

The KRG Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources plans to open three factories for olive production across the provinces in Kurdistan region.

An Italian company has proposed a project for establishing factories for producing olive, promising to help prepare several olive farms in the region, Anwar Omar general director of Plan told (PUKmedia).

“We have dedicated 600 acres to the firm to launch its plan, but it didn’t come on time, so we suspended planting olives,” said Omar.

“As we spend a great amount of money annually on importing olives, we have to take special heed to produce domestic olives,” he remarked, “establishing the factories will take seven years.”
“We will support any company that intends to invest in Kurdistan as such factories definitely fill the local need of people.”

The Ministry has stepped up the efforts to guarantee the food security, he added.

[unitedkurdistan]

The KRG Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources plans to open three factories for olive production across the provinces in Kurdistan region.

An Italian company has proposed a project for establishing factories for producing olive, promising to help prepare several olive farms in the region, Anwar Omar general director of Plan told (PUKmedia).

“We have dedicated 600 acres to the firm to launch its plan, but it didn’t come on time, so we suspended planting olives,” said Omar.

“As we spend a great amount of money annually on importing olives, we have to take special heed to produce domestic olives,” he remarked, “establishing the factories will take seven years.”
“We will support any company that intends to invest in Kurdistan as such factories definitely fill the local need of people.”

The Ministry has stepped up the efforts to guarantee the food security, he added.

Olive Oil Industry in Kurdistan/Iraq Begins to Ripen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81di4HeZCcs&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&hd=1   

[unitedkurdistan]

In Kurdistan, real estate market goes beyond expectations

Iraq’s image is often one of conflict and crisis. But in its Kurdistan Region, the economy is excelling.

Iraq’s image is often one of conflict and crisis. But in its Kurdistan Region, the economy is excelling.

In the real estate market, prices have soared drastically.

In some areas, housing and property prices have increased by dozens of times.

Some say it is a bubble. Others say it is the new Iraq.

Rudaw’s Mohammed Salih investigates the reasons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnGBLZCq35w&feature=player_embedded&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&hd=1   

[kurdistanis1]

In Kurdistan, real estate market goes beyond expectations

Iraq’s image is often one of conflict and crisis. But in its Kurdistan Region, the economy is excelling.

Iraq’s image is often one of conflict and crisis. But in its Kurdistan Region, the economy is excelling.

In the real estate market, prices have soared drastically.

In some areas, housing and property prices have increased by dozens of times.

Some say it is a bubble. Others say it is the new Iraq.

Rudaw’s Mohammed Salih investigates the reasons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnGBLZCq35w&feature=player_embedded&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&hd=1   

This is one thing I hate about the development, I wish the government was able to control the prices of housing. Most people in Kurdistan can't even afford to buy any of the new houses being built and we have Arabs coming in and buying them.

[alan131210]

arabs cant buy no more, my dad was there 3 months ago .

[alan131210]

Kurdistan, (pukmedia) - The KRG Ministry of Health struck an agreement with a British firm to inspect the importing medical drugs to avoid expired and low quality drugs.

A score of people died of using low quality injections over the past months.

“Our Ministry seeks to ink a deal with a British company to inspect the overall importing medical drugs,” Health Minister Rekawt Hama Rasheed told PUKmedia.

We will decide on closing most of the back-alley pharmacies except for a few medically qualified persons, according to whose specialty they are licensed, Hama Rasheed noted.

There are nearly 4,000 back-street pharmacies operating as Dr. Assistants. They will be restricted by fining after the firm starts working, he said.

[diako_ber]

arabs cant buy no more, my dad was there 3 months ago .

Are you sure? Because they have allowed Arabs to buy property since August or so. I know that people from disputed areas aren't allowed to buy property (Kurds/arabs)

[alan131210]

arabs cant buy no more, my dad was there 3 months ago .

Are you sure? Because they have allowed Arabs to buy property since August or so. I know that people from disputed areas aren't allowed to buy property (Kurds/arabs)

3 months ago my dad was in Suli and Kirkuk in neither of them they are allowed to buy, they can "rent" but buying and transferring into their names it "no go zone".

[alan131210]

ERBIL, Aug. 29 (AKnews)- A 20-member delegation of famous Italian businessmen and investors is expected to arrive in Erbil Sept.15, chair of Union of Kurdistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry said today.

The delegation, which comprises owners of oil, construction and agricultural companies, is expected to stay for about a week and meet with Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)'s Foreign Relations Office as well as the Kurdish businessmen, said Dara Jalil Khayyat.

The visit is to boost economic and trade ties. Besides, the Italian company owners intend to confirm their job opportunities in Kurdistan because some of them have already agreed to invest in Kurdistan, Khayyat said.

[alan131210]

SULI, Aug.30 (AKnews)- More than 195 companies from 24 countries today put their items on show in an international expo in Suli's Tasluja neighborhood.

There are still two companies to join the expo which lasts four days, said Yasin Rahim, a member of Suli Commerce and Industry Chamber.

Rahim said such expos will leave behind a good influence for the reconstruction of the Kurdistan Region and especially Suli as the companies transfer the expertise and experience of the other countries to the region and the local businessmen can seize the opportunity to sign deals with the companies.

Earlier Nawa Izzat, legal chief of Suli Expos, had said that 60% of the companies are from Arab countries and the rest from the US, Europe and Eastern Asia.

This is the second international expo held is Tasluja (19km west of Suli). Suli is expected to host another international expo for the construction and housing in September.

[alan131210]

The Ministry of Construction announces the establishment of 5,000 housing units



KURDIU (Sulaimani): Is scheduled to announce the Ministry of Construction and Housing of the Kurdistan Regional Government during the next week for the creation of five thousand housing units in the three provinces of the region.

For his part, the Minister of Construction and Housing of the Kurdistan the Regional Government of (Kamran Ahmed) morning Thursday, 30/8/2012 during his press conference in Taslojah International exhibition In response to a question by site (KurdIU), said that "the Ministry of Construction will announce the establishment of 5000 housing units in the three provinces of the region , pointing to the need to eliminate the housing crisis in the province of Kurdistan.

[alan131210]

Outgoing Japanese Ambassador Susumu Hasegawa met Wednesday with President Barzani to bid him farewell as he prepares to leave Iraq.

Ambassador Hasegawa thanked the President and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for their support and assistance. He discussed Japan’s relations with Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, as well as the projects that Japanese institutions are currently carrying out in the Region.

President Barzani thanked Ambassador Hasegawa for the longstanding effort that Japan has made in helping to support the development of the Kurdistan Region and commended the Ambassador on his personal contribution.

The President noted in particular the valuable efforts that the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has made over the past several years, commenting that their contributions have helped to improve the Region’s infrastructure and have provided training to many people in the Kurdistan Region.

Both sides also discussed the possibility of developing stronger ties, and President Barzani expressed his hope that relations will continue to grow in both the public and private sectors. Ambassador Hasegawa said that Japanese companies are ready to participate in the further development of Kurdistan, such as the recent collaboration of Japanese Agricultural experts with the KRG Ministry of Agriculture and a Japanese-funded training programme being implemented by UNESCO.

[alan131210]

“The new instructions aim to bring down prices to benefit low-income people,” Photo: Rudaw. 

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region -- Aram Khalid has been married for 18 years and is still a tenant.

He was pleased to learn that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is going to revise its housing policy in order that more low-income families can benefit from the massive construction campaign currently underway in Kurdistan. He hopes the change in policy will bring him a home.

“We have seen about many ‘good laws’ but, because of nepotism and the need for connections, the housing problem has not been resolved,” said Khalid.

He added that due to the high price of property, low-income people like himself cannot afford to buy a home.

According to figures from Kurdistan Investment Board (KIB), over 150,000 housing units have been built in Kurdistan since 2006. Currently, 18,000 are under construction. But the housing problem still remains unresolved.

That has lead to widespread criticism that the new homes are only built for well-to-do people and have pushed up prices beyond affordability.

Sama Areb, the legal director at KIB, told Rudaw, “Any new housing unit built from now on must be for low-income people. The ones built before could not meet the objective of reducing the number of tenants.”

Land and home prices in Kurdistan have jumped exponentially over the past decade, with some areas witnessing an increase in prices of up to 70 to 80 times. Income levels have not kept up with the rise in property prices, making it difficult -- if not impossible -- for many to afford buying a home.

The government has now stopped giving licenses to housing investors who build off-plan developments, saying it aims to issue new instructions for investment in the housing sector.

“The new instructions aim to bring down prices to benefit low-income people,” said Areb.

Nahro Akram, the deputy minister of reconstruction and housing in Kurdistan, says the region needs around 300,000 housing units to resolve the chronic housing problem, with each of Kurdistan’s three provinces needing around 100,000 units.

To provide low-cost housing units, the KRG is planning to build around 5,000 new homes that will be given interest-free to first-time home buyers in five-year installments. Thirty percent of those homes will be built in Erbil province, 27 in Dohuk and 43 percent in the Sulaimani and Garmiyan region. 

Akram said each unit will cost around US$33,000 and be given to the buyers at the cost of building.

Areb described the influx to the Kurdistan Region of tens of thousands of displaced people from other parts of Iraq as a main factor in the rise of prices. Once the situation stabilizes, he said, and displaced families return to their original locations, the housing problem in Kurdistan will be greatly eased.

According to statistics from Kurdistan’s security agency, there are around 150,000 internally displaced people from the southern and central parts of Iraq living in the Kurdistan Region. They moved to Kurdistan as a result of the sectarian violence that plagued their areas after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003.

[diako_ber]

“The new instructions aim to bring down prices to benefit low-income people,” Photo: Rudaw. 

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region -- Aram Khalid has been married for 18 years and is still a tenant.

He was pleased to learn that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is going to revise its housing policy in order that more low-income families can benefit from the massive construction campaign currently underway in Kurdistan. He hopes the change in policy will bring him a home.

“We have seen about many ‘good laws’ but, because of nepotism and the need for connections, the housing problem has not been resolved,” said Khalid.

He added that due to the high price of property, low-income people like himself cannot afford to buy a home.

According to figures from Kurdistan Investment Board (KIB), over 150,000 housing units have been built in Kurdistan since 2006. Currently, 18,000 are under construction. But the housing problem still remains unresolved.

That has lead to widespread criticism that the new homes are only built for well-to-do people and have pushed up prices beyond affordability.

Sama Areb, the legal director at KIB, told Rudaw, “Any new housing unit built from now on must be for low-income people. The ones built before could not meet the objective of reducing the number of tenants.”

Land and home prices in Kurdistan have jumped exponentially over the past decade, with some areas witnessing an increase in prices of up to 70 to 80 times. Income levels have not kept up with the rise in property prices, making it difficult -- if not impossible -- for many to afford buying a home.

The government has now stopped giving licenses to housing investors who build off-plan developments, saying it aims to issue new instructions for investment in the housing sector.

“The new instructions aim to bring down prices to benefit low-income people,” said Areb.

Nahro Akram, the deputy minister of reconstruction and housing in Kurdistan, says the region needs around 300,000 housing units to resolve the chronic housing problem, with each of Kurdistan’s three provinces needing around 100,000 units.

To provide low-cost housing units, the KRG is planning to build around 5,000 new homes that will be given interest-free to first-time home buyers in five-year installments. Thirty percent of those homes will be built in Erbil province, 27 in Dohuk and 43 percent in the Sulaimani and Garmiyan region. 

Akram said each unit will cost around US$33,000 and be given to the buyers at the cost of building.

Areb described the influx to the Kurdistan Region of tens of thousands of displaced people from other parts of Iraq as a main factor in the rise of prices. Once the situation stabilizes, he said, and displaced families return to their original locations, the housing problem in Kurdistan will be greatly eased.

According to statistics from Kurdistan’s security agency, there are around 150,000 internally displaced people from the southern and central parts of Iraq living in the Kurdistan Region. They moved to Kurdistan as a result of the sectarian violence that plagued their areas after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003.

I think many Arabs will live in those houses they are building now for the poor