The signing of the construction contract for Iraq's Grand Al Faw Port on the Arabian Gulf improves prospects for residents in its southern province of Basra.
Building the port was one of the key demands of protests in Basra that were part of wider anti-government demonstrations that broke out in central and southern Iraq in October 2019.
“It’s a victory not only for Basra, but also for all Iraq,” said Sameer Rahim, an activist who has campaigned for reforms in his home province for years.
Under the $2.62 billion deal signed on Wednesday, South Korea’s Daewoo Engineering and Construction company will build the first phase of the giant port with a capacity to handle three million containers a year, the director general of Iraq’s state-run General Company for Ports, Farhan Al Fartousi, told Reuters.
This includes five berths in which to unload ships, a container yard, and dredging and drilling work to create an access navigation channel, Mr Al Fartousi said. Construction is scheduled to be completed in about four years.
The port has been planned since the latter half of the past century as a way for Iraq to diversify its oil-reliant economy.
Bypassing the Suez Canal with air, road and rail links passing through Turkey, it will make the country a trade corridor between the Middle East and Europe.
But it was only in 2009 that the Iraqi government started working on the feasibility study and design. Work began in earnest in 2012, when Daewoo started building the breakwaters for the port under a separate contract.
Mr Rahim told The National he had hoped the port construction would be awarded to China Machinery Engineering, which also entered a bid for the contract.
He said this was not only because the Chinese company offered deferred loan payments for building the port, but also because it would have accelerated Iraq’s entry to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
“Oil will vanish sooner or later, but the port and the income from it will continue for years if we managed to join forces with China,” Mr Rahim said.
“Those who will win in the future are the partners of the Chinese dragon, not other countries, as it continues to emerge as a superpower with a strong economy.”
Iraq took steps to join the Belt and Road initiative – a global development strategy involving infrastructure development and investments in almost 70 countries in Asia, Africa and Europe.
In September 2019, Iraq reached a deal with Beijing to fund infrastructure and other projects by Chinese companies. The deal, known as Oil for Reconstruction, involved creating a fund with the revenue from Iraq’s sale of 100,000 barrels of oil a day to two Chinese companies, and loans from Chinese banks up to a limit to $10 billion.
The deal was delayed amid the social unrest and a political vacuum created by the protest movement that began the next month, compounded by the economic crisis caused by plummeting oil prices and the pandemic.
The political and security turmoil after the US-led 2003 invasion affected the plans for Al Faw. The first stage, to receive one million containers a year, was to have been completed by 2019, with capacity increasing gradually to 25 million containers by 2041.
Even the construction of the breakwaters was delayed by lack of funds and the suspension of work after the sudden death in October of a Daewoo executive working on the project.
Mr Rahim is happy that the project is at last moving ahead.
“At least we have some development on the ground that can give us some hope for the future,” he said.
According to the General Company for Ports, Al Faw will create as many as 100,000 jobs.
Basra is Iraq’s second-largest province and has at least 70 per cent of the country’s proven oil reserves of 153 billion barrels. Its location on the Gulf makes it Iraq’s only outlet to the sea and the route for most of its oil exports. But its residents have long complained that they do not get their fair share of revenues from the federal government in Baghdad.
Some residents, including Mr Rahim, are pushing for the creation of a self-ruled region like the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq.
“The region is the only solution for Basra people and we will not give up,” he said.
“Today, we wait for Baghdad to issue decisions on almost everything that are not necessarily in our benefit; we want to take these decisions ourselves to better serve our city.”
Apple%20Mac%20through%20the%20years
%3Cp%3E1984%20-%20Apple%20unveiled%20the%20Macintosh%20on%20January%2024%3Cbr%3E1985%20-%20Steve%20Jobs%20departed%20from%20Apple%20and%20established%20NeXT%3Cbr%3E1986%20-%20Apple%20introduced%20the%20Macintosh%20Plus%2C%20featuring%20enhanced%20memory%3Cbr%3E1987%20-%20Apple%20launched%20the%20Macintosh%20II%2C%20equipped%20with%20colour%20capabilities%3Cbr%3E1989%20-%20The%20widely%20acclaimed%20Macintosh%20SE%2F30%20made%20its%20debut%3Cbr%3E1994%20-%20Apple%20presented%20the%20Power%20Macintosh%3Cbr%3E1996%20-%20The%20Macintosh%20System%20Software%20OS%20underwent%20a%20rebranding%20as%20Mac%20OS%3Cbr%3E2001%20-%20Apple%20introduced%20Mac%20OS%20X%2C%20marrying%20Unix%20stability%20with%20a%20user-friendly%20interface%3Cbr%3E2006%20-%20Apple%20adopted%20Intel%20processors%20in%20MacBook%20Pro%20laptops%3Cbr%3E2008%20-%20Apple%20introduced%20the%20MacBook%20Air%2C%20a%20lightweight%20laptop%3Cbr%3E2012%20-%20Apple%20launched%20the%20MacBook%20Pro%20with%20a%20retina%20display%3Cbr%3E2016%20-%20The%20Mac%20operating%20system%20underwent%20rebranding%20as%20macOS%3Cbr%3E2020%20-%20Apple%20introduced%20the%20M1%20chip%20for%20Macs%2C%20combining%20high%20performance%20and%20energy%20efficiency%3Cbr%3E2022%20-%20The%20M2%20chip%20was%20announced%3Cbr%3E2023%20-The%20M3%20line-up%20of%20chip%20was%20announced%20to%20improve%20performance%20and%20add%20new%20capabilities%20for%20Mac.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
WRESTLING HIGHLIGHTS
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
