Activities in Iraq

The Um Qasr Port and the Khor Al Zubair Port in southern Iraq are two of the most important freight transit port facilities, with no alternative port of such scale in the country. However, military conflicts over the years in the area have led to inadequate operation and maintenance, and wreckage of sunken vessels, which are posing an obstacle to shipping lanes to the ports and diminished the cargo handling capacity of cranes and other equipment. Their total annual cargo handling volume, which exceeded 10 million tons in 2001, is hovering low at around 1 million tons as of 2005, despite significant recovery in recent years due to an upsurge in passing freight brought on by the reconstruction demands of the country. It is reported that approximately 60% of imports are routed through ports in the neighboring countries. Thus there is an urgent need to carry out comprehensive developments in these ports in order to put Iraq's reconstruction efforts on track.

The project aims to recover the port operation functions, and increase its efficiency, primarily in the Umm Qasr Port, by developing the port facilities and shipping lanes.

The proceeds of the loan will be applied to reconstruction of port facilities and equipment and the relevant consulting services.

Project executing agency:

Ministry of Transport (MOT)
Address: Salhya, Section 220, Street No. 21, Baghdad, Iraq

Military conflicts over the years and droughts in the area have led to the halving of the domestic grain production from its production level of 1.5 million tons in 2001. As a result, there is a large gap between the demand for and supply of agricultural products. The self-sufficiency rate of major grains, which reached 80-100% in the 1980s, plunged to 20% in 2003, and the country now depends on imports for most of agricultural products. To cope with the situation, the "National Development Strategy 2005-2007" dated June 2005 gave priority to increasing productivity in the agricultural sector through supplies of fertilizer, rehabilitation of irrigation facilities and capacity enhancement of agricultural research. Furthermore, the agricultural sector is expected to absorb the labor force in the country, which faces serious unemployment problems, since it accounts for one-third of non-oil economy*.

On the other hand, annual rainfall, which is approximately 600mm in the northern region and 200mm in other regions, is not sufficient for developing agriculture in the country, leading to the necessity of irrigation for agriculture in most of the country. Yet only 30% of the land appropriate for irrigation is actually utilized for irrigation agriculture. In addition, a lack of maintenance in drainage facilities has significantly undermined the capacities of irrigation facilities.

The objective of the project is to restore farmlands for irrigation across Iraq, by rehabilitating their irrigation and drainage facilities, thereby contributing to the increase in agricultural productivity in Iraq.

The proceeds of the loan will be applied to rehabilitation of pump stations, procurement of operation and maintenance equipment and power generators and relevant consulting services.
* Non-oil economy contributes to approximately 30% of GDP of the country as of 2004.

Project executing agency:

Ministry of Water Resources(MOWR)
Address: Palestine Street, Baghdad, Iraq

The electricity sector in the country is facing a lack of capacity in all sub-sectors, i.e. generation, transmission and distribution, due to insufficient operation and maintenance and a lack of new investment in the past, despite its importance for all economic and social activities. The electricity sector is thus one of the most important sectors for reconstruction in Iraq. The generation capacity that exceeded 9,000 MW in the 1990s has plunged to less than 4,000 MW in recent years, leading to frequent load shedding throughout the country. Power outages are affecting not only household and business activities but also the operations of basic infrastructure facilities such as water supply and sewerage systems, and hospitals, posing a major obstacle to the restoration of social stability and economic recovery. Rehabilitation of power generation facilities is therefore an urgent challenge in the country.

The objective of the project is to expand the power generation capacity of Iraq and increase its efficiency and reliability. The project consists of rehabilitation of the existing Al-Mussaib Thermal Power Plant (300 MW 4), located near the Baghdad metropolitan area and one of the key power plants in Iraq, whose power output and capacity utilization rate have significantly decreased due to inadequate operation and maintenance.

The proceeds of the loan will be applied to rehabilitation of two power generation units (Units No.1 and No.3), repairing common facilities and relevant consulting services.

Project executing agency:

Ministry of Electricity (MOE)
Address: Al-Husan Square, Babylon, Iraq

For smooth implementation of reconstruction activities in Iraq, it is imperative to transport aid goods and equipment through the neighboring countries. This is why rehabilitation and expansion of the road network is given one of the highest priorities. The national highway No. 1, linking the Kuwaiti border to Baghdad and then to Jordan, is the main arterial road of the country's road transport network. However, vehicles traveling this north-south route have to make a detour to the national highway No. 8, which runs through the center of Samawah city, Al Muthanna, since part of this trunk road remains under construction. As a result, vehicles traveling the north-south route added to ordinary city traffic cause chronic congestion in Samawah.

The traffic congestion is most serious in areas surrounding the Samawah Bridge in the city center, which is the only crossing point around Samawah of the Euphrates that dissects the northern and southern Iraq and constitutes part of the national highway No. 8. This is not only significantly affecting the daily lives of Samawah citizens but also posing a bottleneck to the progress of reconstruction projects. Therefore, there is a need to build bridges in Samawah in order to diversify the crossing points of the Euphrates and alleviate the traffic congestion in the neighboring area.

The objective of the project is to achieve smooth north-south transportation in the country and to ease traffic congestion in Samawah city and surrounding areas, by constructing the bridge over the Euphrates river, thereby contributing to facilitating inland transportation and commerce activities in the country.

The proceeds of the loan will applied to the new construction of three bridges and access roads to each bridge in Samawah and its vicinity, and relevant consulting services.

Project executing agency:

Ministry of Construction and Housing (MOCH)
Address: Al Nahtha, Baghdad, Iraq

The oil sector is the largest industry in Iraq, accounting for approximately 70% of its GDP and 80% of its fiscal revenue, and virtually the only source of its foreign reserves. It is for this reason that in the "National Development Strategy 2005-2007" dated June 2005, the Iraqi government designated the development of oil sector as one of the highest priorities for strengthening the foundations of economic growth. Specifically, the government plans to increase its crude oil production capacity from the current 2 million/BPD (barrels per day) to 6 million/BPD in the next 10 years, which needs additional investment of more than $20 billion to develop oil-related facilities including crude oil production and export facilities.

In the oil sector, the refining sub-sector is currently facing a huge demand-supply gap in gasoline and other petroleum products, i.e. shortage of gasoline by 7,000 cubic meters per day, due to declining capacities of oil refining facilities due to war damage and excessive aging, and increasing domestic demand for petroleum products in the process of postwar reconstruction as well. As a result, the government has to import petroleum products to mitigate supply shortage, which led to a foreign currency outflow of $200 million equivalent every month. Under these circumstances, there is an urgent need to rehabilitate and expand refining facilities for increasing the country's oil refining capacity.

The objective of the project is to increase the production of gasoline and other petroleum products for private-sector users, by installing a Fluid Catalyst Cracking (FCC) unit and its relevant facilities, which increase the productivity of gasoline and other petroleum in the existing refinery in Basrah, southern Iraq.

The proceeds of the loan will be applied to basic designing and relevant studies for the project.

Project executing agency:

Ministry of Oil (MOO)
Address: P.O. Box 19244, ZAYONA, Baghdad, Iraq

The agriculture sector contributes to one-third of the non-oil economy* in Iraq, recognized as the second most important industry in the non-oil sector after the service industry. There is, however, a large gap between the demand for and supply of agricultural products, however. The self-sufficiency rate of major grains, which reached 80-100% in the 1980s, plunged to 20% as of 2003, and the country now depends on imports for most of agricultural products. To cope with this situation, the "National Development Strategy 2005-2007" dated June 2005 gave priority to increasing productivity in the agricultural sector through supplies of fertilizer, rehabilitation of irrigation facilities and capacity enhancement of agricultural research.

In Iraq, there are two fertilizer plants under operation in Khor Al-Zubair and Beiji, respectively, which used to supply 500-700 thousand tons of fertilizer annually to the domestic market. These plants have been operated at a level below their actual capacities since 2003, however, due to insufficient supply of natural gas as the raw material, shortages of electricity and excessive aging of machinery and equipment. Khor Al-Zubair plant, having the design capacity of 1.06 million tons per year, only produces 260 thousand tons as of 2004, while Beiji plant, having the design capacity of 1.15 million tons per year, only produces 50 thousand tons per year. This results in shortages of fertilizer supply, which is necessary for increasing agricultural productivity.

The objective of the project is to improve the production capacity of the Khor Al-Zubair Fertilizer Plant, by supplying urgently-needed machinery and equipment, thereby contributing to increased agricultural productivity through enhanced fertilizer supply.

The proceeds of the loan will be applied to the supply and installation of machinery and equipment, and relevant consulting services, for rehabilitation of the fertilizer plant.
* Non-oil economy approximately contributes to 30% of the GDP of the country as of 2004.

Project executing agency:

Ministry of Industry and Minerals(MOIM)
Address: Basrah Khor Al-Zubair Factories P.O. Box 74, Iraq

The oil sector is the largest industry in Iraq, accounting for approximately 70% of its GDP and 80% of its fiscal revenue, and virtually the only source of its foreign reserves. It is for this reason that in the "National Development Strategy 2005-2007" dated June 2005, the Iraqi government designated the development of the oil sector as one of the highest priorities for strengthening the foundations of economic growth. Specifically, the government plans to gradually increase crude oil production in the southern region, which accounts for 80% of crude oil exports, from the current 2 million BPD (barrels per day) to 5.3 million BPD. This will require additional investment in developing oil-related facilities, including crude oil production facilities and export terminals.

Most of the oil-related facilities in Iraq were built in the 1970s. As several conflicts in the area have prevented new investment and adequate maintenance over the years, oil facilities have deteriorated leading to a lack of reliability and capacity in those facilities. In particular, an offshore crude oil export facility in Fao, Basrah Governorate, is facing a serious decline in the reliability of its operation. Furthermore, given the plan to expand crude oil production capacity in the coming years, its current capacity (2.1 million barrel/day) is highly insufficient. There is thus an urgent need to ensure stable operations and enhance the capacity of its facilities.

The project aims to stabilize and expand the country's crude oil export capacity, a lifeline of the Iraqi economy, by constructing a pipeline connecting the inland crude oil storage to the offshore crude oil export terminal in FAO, Basrah Governorate, where a decline in the reliability of aging equipment and substantial capacity shortage are hindering its safe and stable operations.

The proceeds of the loan will be applied to the construction of a new pipeline and an offshore SPM (Single Point Mooring) loading facility, and relevant consulting services.

Project executing agency:

Ministry of Oil (MOO)
Address: P.O. Box 19244, ZAYONA, Baghdad, Iraq

The electricity sector in the country is facing a lack of capacity in all sub-sectors, i.e. generation, transmission and distribution, due to insufficient operation and maintenance and a lack of new investment in the past, despite its importance for all economic and social activities. The electricity sector is thus one of the most important sectors for reconstruction in Iraq. The generation capacity that exceeded 9,000 MW in the 1990s has plunged to less than 4,000 MW in recent years, leading to the frequent planned outages throughout the country. Power outages are affecting not only households and businesses but also the operation of basic infrastructure facilities such as water supply and sewerage systems, and hospitals, posing a major obstacle to the restoration of social stability and economic recovery. In addition to power generation facilities, rehabilitating the transmission, substation and distribution facilities that have been facing a lack of capacity is also an urgent task.

The objective of the project is to ensure a stable electricity supply, by reconstructing substation and distribution networks across Iraq.

The proceeds of the loan will be applied to procurement of machinery, equipment and materials for substation and distribution networks, and relevant consulting services.

Project executing agency:

Ministry of Electricity (MOE)
Address: Al-Husan Square, Babylon, Iraq

In Basrah, the second largest city in Iraq, the maximum water demand amounts to approximately 900,000 tons per day. However, the 12 water treatment plants have total capacity of only about 400,000 tons per day; water supply thus falls significantly short of demand. As a result, some 70% of households have access to water supply services for less than 12 hours a day. Moreover, an underdeveloped water network makes it difficult to pass on extra water from one water service district served by a specific water treatment plant to another in a systematic and efficient manner. Since many water pipes were installed in the 1950s or earlier, and have received insufficient maintenance to date, the water supply system has thus degraded, and it is estimated that the water leakage level is as high as 50% of the total water supply. This has also caused deterioration in water quality, which is another concern. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop water supply facilities in the city.

The objective of the project is to improve quantity and quality of the water supply situation around Basrah City in southern Iraq by rehabilitating and newly constructing water treatment plants, as well as by improving of distribution networks and other facilities.

The proceeds of the loan will be applied to the improvement of the water supply facilities and relevant consulting services, including training on leak detection and other measures to prevent leakage for employees.

Project executing agency:

Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works (MMPW)
Address: Al-Mansour, Baghdad, Iraq

The Kurdistan region, consisting of the three northern governorates of Duhok, Erbil and Sulamaniah, receives its electricity supply primarily from two hydropower plants in the region and the national power grid. However, due to lack of new investment and insufficient operation and maintenance, electricity supply to the region has gradually decreased from an average of 700 megawatts (MW) in 1991 to 400 MW in 2006. This has met only 40% of power demands for household use, and, as a result, power outages last more than 12 hours a day on average. The power supply thus remains unreliable and unstable for households and basic infrastructure facilities such as hospitals. While other donors have provided their assistance mainly for power generation/transmission systems in the Kurdistan region, there still has been a lack of support for substation and distribution sectors. Given that a significant decline in the capacity of substations and distribution facilities is one of the causes of the deteriorating electricity supply in the region, there is an urgent need to rehabilitate and develop these facilities.

The objective of the project is to improve the levels of reliability and availability of the electricity network in the Kurdistan region by developing substation and distribution sectors.

JBIC signed the project agreement in October 2007 with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which has maintained an operational base in the region to conduct reconstruction assistance and has had much field experience of assisting the electricity sector reconstruction and development in the Kurdistan region for years, for capacity building and procurement assistance services for this project. Through this service, JBIC will proactively promote preparation for efficient implementation of this project.

The proceeds of the loan will be applied to the procurement of machinery and equipment for substation and distribution networks, and relevant consulting services.

Project executing agency:

Regional Ministry of Electricity in Kurdistan (RMEK)
Address: 16 Street, Erbil, Iraq