Again.. The Dollar Rises In Baghdad
The US dollar exchange rate rose today, Tuesday, in Baghdad markets.
The dollar price rose with the opening of the Al-Kifah and Al-Harithiya stock exchanges, recording 147,850 dinars for every 100 dollars, while it recorded 147,650 dinars for every 100 dollars yesterday morning, Monday.
Meanwhile, selling prices stabilized in local markets in Baghdad, where the selling price reached 148,750 dinars, while the purchase price reached 146,750 dinars for every 100 dollars. https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=250620
All Decisions Of The Cabinet Session Held Today
The Iraqi Council of Ministers made several decisions today, Tuesday, during its regular session headed by Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani.
The Prime Minister’s media office stated in a statement received by Mawazine News that “Al-Sudani held the twenty-seventh regular session of the Council of Ministers today, Tuesday, during which the most important service and economic files were discussed and followed up, especially those related to the implementation of the government program. The items on the agenda were also discussed, and the necessary directives and decisions were issued regarding them.”
During the session, Al-Sudani praised “all educational staff on the occasion of the end of the ministerial exams for the final preparatory classes, appreciating their efforts in ensuring the success of the exam process. His Excellency also praised the governmental and private universities and colleges that hosted sixth grade students and provided the necessary facilities to take their exams.”
The Council of Ministers continued to consider its agenda, approving what was stated in the letter of the Ministry of Interior, dated (June 30, 2024), regarding granting citizens of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Yemen a regular entry visa through official border crossings, for a period of two months, in exchange for paying $75, or its equivalent in Iraqi dinars, and that electronic or regular payment be adopted.
In the context of preparations to receive arrivals to participate in the Arbaeen pilgrimage, the Council approved what was stated in the letter of Wasit Governorate on July 2, 2024 regarding leasing an area of(50) dunums in the Zurbatiya district, as an exception to Article 39 of the Law on the Sale and Lease of State Property.
Based on Al-Sudani’s directives during the second meeting of the Higher Committee for Coordination between the Council of Ministers, Federations and Unions, to periodically host unions and federations in the Cabinet sessions, the Council hosted the Head of the Geologists Syndicate, Mr. Saad Obaid, and approved the Syndicate’s working paper and the submitted proposals, as follows:
1- Allocating an annual grant of (150) million Iraqi dinars to the Geologists Syndicate, to pay the salaries of employees and activities of the General Secretariat Office of the Arab Geologists Union.
2- The Ministry of Finance shall undertake to provide the aforementioned Syndicate with land for the purposes of its branches in all governorates, to build its headquarters, in accordance with the provisions of the Land Ownership Law (3 of 1960) amended.
3- Adding the Geologists Syndicate to the membership of the Iraqi Construction Council.
In this regard, Al-Sudani directed the formation of a committee between the Ministry of Oil and the Geologists Syndicate to study the procedures stipulated in the Syndicate Law (197 of 1968), which require the approval of the Ministry of Oil.
His Excellency also directed that the Ministry of Interior take the necessary measures to allow the acceptance of graduates of geological departments in the courses of the Security and Administrative Development Institute, and that municipalities in all governorates allocate lands to geological employees in coordination with the Syndicate, in accordance with Legislative Order 12 of 2004,
as well as that all ministries and entities not affiliated with a ministry involve geological consulting offices when conducting tests for compliance with specifications and geological and geoengineering examinations, and when selecting sites for building housing, residential towers and infrastructure.
In the field of following up on stalled projects and infrastructure projects, the Council of Ministers approved the following:
1- Increasing the total cost of the project (construction of two bridges) in Baghdad, and including it in Cabinet Resolution No. 23017 of 2023, to address the conflicts facing implementation through a committee of the relevant ministries, the Baghdad Municipality, and the Baghdad Operations Command.
2- Increase the total cost and reserve amount for the project (establishing a 100-bed general hospital in Al-Karma district/Anbar, (construction, equipment and furnishing).
3- Increase the total cost of the component (general population and housing census), increase the total cost of the project (statistical surveys), and secure the annual allocations for the project from the allocations of the Ministry of Planning for the year 2024.
In the field of following up on energy and electricity sector projects, the Council approved increasing the financial allocations for the Ministry of Electricity, on account of the operating budget by (300) billion dinars, to cover the work as follows:
1- (125) billion dinars for the emergency plan bottleneck projects, which were launched based on the directives of the Prime Minister, to resolve the bottlenecks in the distribution sector, and include (critical projects, feeders, and rehabilitation of stations), and the Ministry bears the integrity of the procedures.
2- (100) billion dinars to purchase transformers (self-powered, capacity, distribution), for the transmission and distribution sectors, from the Ministry of Industry and Minerals.
3- (75) billion dinars to purchase specialized mechanisms for the distribution sector, According to the controls.
In the roads sector, it was approved to direct a direct invitation to specialized solid companies, as an exception to the contracting methods stipulated in the instructions for implementing government contracts (2 of 2014), and no less than five to seven international companies to implement the project (the ring road in Basra Governorate), and the governorate has the authority to divide the first phase into more than one contract and destination; due to its large size and to find an important means of competition for completion.
In order to organize the work of construction laboratories, the Council of Ministers approved the recommendations of the committee to set controls and mechanisms for granting licenses to establish construction laboratories, accrediting and monitoring them, with the identification of the parties responsible for that, according to the following:
1. Adopting the mechanism for granting licenses and the monitoring mechanism mentioned in paragraphs (fifth and sixth) of the amended report of the aforementioned committee, and the Iraqi Engineers Syndicate is authorized to grant laboratory licenses.
2. Obligating all state institutions not to direct project administrations under their administrations to conduct testing in specific laboratories (governmental and private) without others, especially if they meet the conditions of establishment, practice and accreditation certificate and do not have anything that hinders their work, in accordance with the Competition and Anti-Monopoly Law (14 of 2010).
3. Obligating all resident engineer departments, laboratories and implementing agencies to carry out joint modeling.
4. The Ministry of Construction, Housing and Municipalities shall prepare a study to establish a mechanism for quality control work on construction projects implemented in the country.
5. Relevant agencies shall assume their responsibilities in protecting the consumer by controlling all construction material quarries, and obligating construction material factories and quarry owners to market products that comply with specifications, by providing the consumer with what ensures that the prepared material conforms to the specifications of the construction material, with the necessity of enhancing the capabilities of the Central Agency for Standardization and Quality Control to carry out its tasks in this field.
The Council of Ministers approved increasing the capital of the Iraqi Banking Services Company by an amount of (10,036,750,000) dinars, calculated on the account of the expansion reserve, based on the Public Companies Law (22 of 1997) as amended, and that the Ministry of Finance take the necessary measures to implement this.
In the agricultural sector, the recommendation of the Ministerial Council for the Economy (24172 Q) was approved, which includes approval of the minutes of the Coordination Committee meeting regarding the exemption of fertilizer contracts from the contracting methods stipulated in the instructions for implementing government contracts (2 of 2014),
and from the instructions for facilitating the implementation of the federal general budget for the years (2023-2024-2025), regarding the contracting mechanism between the General Company for Agricultural Equipment and the General Company for the Southern Fertilizer Industry to supply urea fertilizer.
In the same context, the Ministry of Agriculture’s letter dated July 1, 2024 was approved regarding the preparation of pesticides for dusting wheat seeds, and approval of the preparation through the contracts to be concluded, and shipping and preparation before opening the documentary credit, as an exception to the controls attached to the instructions for implementing government contracts,
in addition to granting the Minister of Agriculture the authority to follow the same method for preparation contracts related to agricultural seasons and campaigns of the Department of Crop Protection.
The Council of Ministers approved the General Company for Airports and Air Navigation to bear the expenses of feeding workers and living, technical and medical supplies for K9 teams, and the costs of maintenance materials related to sonar devices and baggage inspection for a period of one month, as an exception to the contracting methods in the instructions for implementing government contracts regarding the security company (Business Intel) staff.
The Cabinet discussed other topics on its agenda, and approved the following:
First: Approval of the recommendation of the Ministerial Council for Human Development (24010 of 2024), which includes allocating the properties mentioned in the Council’s recommendation (7 of 2021) to the universities of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (usufruct),
while keeping the ownership in the name of the owning party, provided that the properties are occupied exclusively for the purpose for which they were allocated, and amending Cabinet Resolutions (239 of 2020) and (54 of 2022), by allocating the lands to the occupying government agencies, to exploit them according to the purpose for which they were allocated, while keeping their ownership in the owner’s name.
Second: Approval of what was stated in the letter of the Ministry of Culture on (July 1, 2024) regarding the Opera House project, and its exception with regard to unifying the title deeds of the project, and from the conditions of advertising according to the standard document, and from the instructions for implementing government contracts (2 of 2014) as amended.
Third: Issuing the (Wages and Fines System for the Iraqi Supreme Maritime Authority), which was audited by the Council of State, based on the provisions of the Constitution and the provisions of the Iraqi Maritime Authority Law (18 of 2019).
Fourth: Approval for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to deposit the ratification and accession documents to the Maternity Protection Convention and the 2014 Protocol supplementing the Forced Labour Convention (2 of 1930) to the International Labour Organization, in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty Conclusion Law (15 of 2015).
The Ministry shall prepare two memoranda including the inclusion of the aforementioned text in the letter of the Permanent Mission of Iraq to the United Nations, in line with the provisions of the Treaty Conclusion Law, and authorize the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs to sign the determination of the minimum period of time for maternity leave, in accordance with what is stated in the letter of our representation to the United Nations, in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=250663
Provoking Thoughts and Points To Ponder On Adversity:
Forget the times of your distress, but never forget what they taught you. – Herbert Gasser
You can learn little from victory. You can learn everything from defeat. – Christy Mathewson
A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner. – English proverb
When a man is pushed, tormented, defeated, he has a chance to learn something; he has been put on his wits … he has gained facts, learned his ignorance, is cured of the insanity of conceit, has got moderation and real skill. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
From their errors and mistakes, the wise and good learn wisdom for the future. – Plutarch
http://famousquotesandauthors.com/topics/adversity_quotes.html
