Iraq’s Kurdish region feels the bite of failing to plan ahead Near a quiet park in Sulaimaniya, the second largest city in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, Ali and his fellow taxi drivers are engaged in deep conversation. The topic touches upon the struggles that he and his friends are now facing. “There are few customers these days. People don’t have the money to get in cabs anymore
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BAGHDAD, March 26, 2016 –World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim told a special session of the Iraqi parliament today that the path to stability and shared growth in Iraq lay in empowering local governments, opening up and diversifying the economy, and improving the management of public finances by reforming the public sector and increasing accountability. The speech came duri
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If Baghdad today is a byword for inner-city decay and violence on an unspeakable scale, its foundation 1,250 years ago was a glorious milestone in the history of urban design. More than that, it was a landmark for civilisation, the birth of a city that would quickly become the cultural lodestar of the world. Contrary to popular belief, Baghdad is old but not ancient. Founded in
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Planned financial aid packages can help prevent economic meltdown in Iraqi Kurdistan and reduce tensions between Baghdad and Erbil. The Kurdistan Regional Government is making a concerted effort to attract financial aid from the United States and other international players, and the logic for providing such aid is strong. The KRG is the vital launchpad for liberating Mosul, an
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A Mysterious Pipeline Closure Is Bankrupting Iraqi Kurds Iaqi Kurds’ dreams of energy-financed political independence are taking a beating — and not just because of low oil prices. Since the middle of February, Iraqi Kurdistan’s tenuous export link to the outside world has been totally shut down. As recently as January, the Kurds were exporting 600,000 barrels a day in
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