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Kurdistan Region-Iraq News in brief
13.12.2006
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December 13,
2006 - Sulaimaniyah,
Erbil, Duhok, Kirkuk, Kurdistan Region (Iraq)
Erbil international film festival in the works
The directorate of Cinema Arts in Erbil announced
plans to organize a large international film
festival in the Kurdistan Region.
Following the recent festival about Yelmaz Gona for
short films, the directorate of Cinema Arts in Erbil
announced plans to organize a large international
film festival in the Kurdistan Region, local media
reported.
The director of cinema arts in Erbil, Bafrin Karim,
told local media that the festival will be performed
during December 25-28, and will consist of two
parts. In the first part, there will be an
exhibition of 25 films that KRG's Ministry of
Culture has produced; the second part will be for
the exhibition of international films.
"Regarding selection of the international films that
will be showed in the festival, our one condition is
that the films relate to Kurdistan in some way,"
said Karim, adding, "This year's festival is
specialized for short films; we will have longer
programs next year."
KRG parliament members called for special meeting
KRG Parliament members to attend discussions on the
Iraq Study Group report.
Kurdistan parliament speaker Adnan Mufti released a
statement requiring all members to attend
discussions on the Iraq Study Group report,
according to local media.
Below is the parliament's statement in brief:
"Based on the verdict clause (1) in the article
number (6) of the Iraqi Kurdistani National Council
in 1992, we decided to call upon all the members of
the council to take part in the atypical session
number (1) in the second conference phase of the
second year following the phase (2) election of
Iraqi Kurdistani National Council at 11.00 a.m. on
Sunday, December 17, for the sake of conversations
about the Iraq Study Group report and detecting
parliament's response to the report."
Kurdistani parties announce their support to
Kurdistan Region's presidential notion
The Kurdistan Liberal Labor Party and the Kurdistan
Population Democratic Movement released a shared
statement.
The Kurdistan Liberal Labor Party and the Kurdistan
Population Democratic Movement released a shared
statement, reading, "It is clear that unstable
security situations in Iraq have reached a degree
that involves almost every part of the country with
the exception of the Kurdistan Region. The reason
for this unstable security situation is mainly due
to international terrorism and remnants of the
previous Baathist regime."
The statement added, "The Americans formed the Iraq
Study Group for the purpose of revising their Iraq
policy.
We express our disappointment regarding the final
results of the group's report, as they have not
taken Iraqi requirements into consideration.
Furthermore, regarding the Kurdistan Region, they
have proposed suggestions related to issues such as
amendments in the Iraqi constitution, strengthening
the center and adjourning the execution of Article
140.
"We call upon all the Kurdistani parties and civil
society organizations to take the risks of this
report seriously and raise their 'disagreement'
voice; at the same time we do support the idea of
the Kurdistan Region's President and ask upon the
Kurdistani political presidency to make
international diplomatic attempts for the sake of
solving the current internal disappointment."
Dozens of contracts signed after Sulaimaniyah
International Trade Fair
Up to US$95 million worth of trade contracts have
been signed after the successful conclusion of Sulaimaniyah
International Trade Fair.
The signatures on the contracts include both
national and international companies, and that
number is set to rise.
Abdullah Haji Saeed, an aid to Iraqi President Jalal
Talabani, claimed that the Fair has been a great
boost to regional trade. "This fair was a positive
step towards Kurdistan becoming a productive country
in the future," he said.
Sulaimaniyah International Fair opened in November
2006 and was the biggest trade show in the city's
history. Osman Fatah Muhedin, a member of the
organising committee, said that the fair had a
positive influence on local and international
businessmen. The proof of this was the large number
of contracts during and after the event. Mr Muhedin
said the outcome of the fair far exceeded their
expectations, "We didn't think it would be such a
success," More than 320 Kurdish, Iraqi and
International companies, as well as representatives
from 17 countries participated in the event. All in
all, the fair attracted around 137,000 visitors.
The fair was organised in to two sections, one
indoor and one outdoor. Demand for space at the show
was so
high that 20 square meters inside spaces went for a
staggering $30,000, while smaller nine square meter
spaces
were sold for $4,900. Some businessmen were unhappy
with these prices, but this did not dampen demand...
Raising the Dinar to reduce prices in market
Increasing the value of the Iraqi dinar against the
dollar may hurt imports but it will help domestic
trade.
The news about the appreciating value of the dinar
against the dollar has hit the market in Sulaimaniyah
hard. Many will lose their jobs. People believe that
neither the government nor the Central Bank can
carry out such a critical decision.
Mr. Ali Abdullah of the Bank of Harem (The Regional
Bank) says that attempts to raise the value of the
Dinar are not something new, but many preparations
have been made in order for the plan to go ahead. He
says that the decision was made to overcome the
economic crises in Iraq.
"To increase the value of the dinar, the government
has to increase exports and produce more goods," Mr.
Abdullah believes.
Despite the fact that no official spokesperson from
the Central Bank has ever issued such a firm
decision decreasing the dollar value to 1250 ID from
its previous value of 1450 ID has created an
unnatural shake in the local markets.
Professor Dr. Narmeen Marouf, an economist, tells
the Kurdish Globe that this move from the Central
Bank aimed at solving the inflation crated due to
the high value of the dollar. "If the value of the
dinar goes up, the price of goods will decline
sharply; they have been paid off in dollars and are
sold in dinars," she says, adding that the Central
Bank has also tried before to reduce prices and
balance off the supply and demand in the local
markets. "As the value of the dinar increases,
consumers and the local merchants are the first to
benefit."
Crossing the Fog
Crossing the Fog features the lives of two Kurdish
Peshmargas who, during the U.S. liberation of Iraq.
Shawkat Amin Korki, the producer of the film
"Crossing the Fog", said that he has received
requests for his film to be shown at several other
international film festivals. Korki's announcement
followed his return from the Cairo International
Film Festival, where his movie was shown.
"The movie was shown three times at the Cairo
festival, where it took audiences by surprise and
caused a great deal of discussion," Korki told the
local media, adding, "It has been invited to be
shown in other international festivals such as those
of Rotterdam, New York, Belgium, India, and Spain."
The producer said that, although the movie was
categorized as being controversial at the Cairo
festival, it gained huge publicity by being featured
in magazines and on TV stations in Egypt.
Crossing the Fog features the lives of two Kurdish
Peshmargas who, during the U.S. invasion of Iraq,
join U.S. forces and enter an Iraqi city where they
discover a lost Arab child. Throughout the movie,
they try to reunite the child with the parents, a
mission that takes the life of one of the Peshmargas.
Produced with the assistance of Kurdistan Regional
Government's Ministry of Culture, the movie was the
only Iraqi film to show at the Cairo International
Film Festival.
Peyamner com | KRG | The Kurdish Globe | Agencies
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