Tishwash: UN: Iraq will become a banking powerhouse both domestically and internationally
UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Mohammed Al-Hassan, confirmed that Iraq will become a banking powerhouse both domestically and internationally .
Al-Hassan said in a statement to the Iraqi News Agency (INA) today, Friday, that “the words spoken during the conference on money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism indicated that Iraq is facing a regional and international challenge to restore its status .”
He added, “The Iraqi economic system cannot be complete without an effective financial sector, both domestically and internationally,” noting that “Iraq is committed to taking positive steps to restore confidence in the financial and banking sector in Iraq .”
Al-Hassan stressed that “the United Nations supports Iraq’s path, which will become, in the coming days, a banking power that interacts internally and externally,” emphasizing that “the fight against terrorism is not a scourge that has afflicted Iraq alone, but the entire world, and the sacrifices that Iraq has made in lives and money are not trivial or small .”
He noted that “these sacrifices must be completed, extended, and continued to restore Iraq’s position in the financial and banking sector link
Tishwash: The US intervenes in the salary funding crisis between Baghdad and Erbil.
The US State Department called on the federal government and the Kurdistan Region to abide by the financial payments stipulated in the Iraqi constitution and work to resolve their differences through constructive dialogue.
A US State Department official said, “Swiftly resolving the salary issue sends a message that Iraq puts the interests of its people first and creates an attractive environment for investment,” noting that “it would also be a positive signal regarding the possibility of reopening the Iraq-Türkiye pipeline.”
He stressed that “US support for the Kurdistan Region is a key component of its relationship with Iraq,” noting that “US Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently hosted the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region, Masrour Barzani, and also spoke with the President of the Region, Nechirvan Barzani, where they emphasized the importance of continued cooperation to promote stability and prosperity in Iraq and the region.”
These statements come as the Kurdistan Region’s civil servants’ salaries are facing a new crisis, following the federal Ministry of Finance’s announcement that it would halt funding for May 2025 salaries. The announcement was made due to what it described as the region’s exceeding its budget share and its failure to deliver oil and non-oil revenues.
Erbil recently signed two agreements with American companies worth more than $110 billion in the energy sector. This sparked criticism in Baghdad, which considered it an infringement of its sovereign powers. Erbil, however, views the agreements as part of its plan for economic reform and resource development. link
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Tishwash: Baghdad joins the Smart Cities Club: The Municipality adopts digitized transactions to serve citizens.
The first signs of a serious shift toward the concept of smart cities have begun in the capital, Baghdad, through rapid digital steps adopted by the Baghdad Municipality to modernize the performance of its institutions and facilitate citizen transactions.
The Baghdad Municipality has expanded its planning vision to include sustainable development and urban technology, building on the Iraqi state’s approach to linking municipal services with advanced digital systems. These systems help reduce bureaucracy, improve performance efficiency, and meet the needs of residents in a changing urban environment.
These initiatives reflect the Secretariat’s clear direction to move beyond traditional management and service approaches and enter a qualitative phase based on the integration of digital transformation, environmental planning, and service innovation, positioning Baghdad as a city connected to the global urban fabric of the future.
Baghdad Mayor Eng. Ammar Musa Kazim announced the capital’s entry into a new phase of digital transformation by modernizing the mechanisms for processing citizen transactions in Baghdad Municipality departments. This represents a first step toward a smart and sustainable Baghdad, inspired by global models of urban development.
During his participation in the Iraqi Smart Cities Conference, organized by the Federation of Iraqi Chambers of Commerce in cooperation with the International Chamber of Commerce, he emphasized that the Secretariat has begun to play a leading role in addressing urban challenges through the digitization of its services, and its participation in the Arab Smart Cities Forum enhances opportunities for exchanging experiences and expertise with advanced Arab cities.
He explained that the municipality has launched new applications to receive citizens’ complaints digitally and has developed a construction transaction system to reduce direct contact and increase transparency and speed, reflecting a gradual transition towards an electronic city with e-government and identity services.
He pointed out that the launch of the implementation work for the New Sadr City project came as a model for a smart and sustainable city that takes into account modern environmental and architectural standards, in parallel with other ambitious projects such as the Sustainable Baghdad Forests and the waste-to-electricity project, indicating a comprehensive approach to redefining the capital’s service and environmental infrastructure.
In separate posts on the X platform, observers highlighted the importance of these initiatives in addressing the accumulated burden of decades of service decline and haphazard planning.
Journalist Hussam Al-Taie wrote: “Finally, we’re hearing about a smart Baghdad… digital transformation is not a luxury, but a tool for urban justice.” Engineer Suha Al-Lami tweeted: “If the Baghdad Municipality adheres to the digital roadmap, we will witness a real transformation in people’s lives.”
This leap forward is based on the Baghdad Municipality’s vision to catch up with major Arab cities, after years of absence from the sustainable urban development map. The city seeks to make the capital a practical testing ground for future city ideas, rather than merely a theoretical imitation of others’ experiences. link
