Newsletter No. 1304
News-Analysis
March 2, 2009

 

LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR NEW COOPERATION WITH IRAQ

If there was a common theme that might describe developments in Japan-Iraq relations in the past month or so, it might be the sending of investigative missions or preparing the ground. The official ceremony ending the ASDF military mission in Iraq was held at Komaki Air Base on February 15th. Although billed to the Japanese public as part of a peaceful reconstruction project, the media is finally reporting facts such as that of the roughly 46,500 personnel the ASDF had transported, more than 30,000 were US troops and other soldiers from multinational forces. From 2009, we can expect that Japan’s link to Iraq will be more genuinely non-military. There were four initiatives in February:

1) A large Japanese business delegation arrived in Iraq

2) A Japanese governmental delegation inspected Basra

3) An Iraqi “Survey Mission for Technology and Science” visited Japan

4) JICA confirmed that they would establish a full-time office in Arbil

The first item is going on now. Yesterday, the Japanese business delegation headed by Gotaro Ogawa, the Japanese ambassador in charge of reconstruction assistance to Iraq, was received by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Baghdad. The Japanese delegation was composed of government officials and representatives from twelve major Japanese companies which have strong interest in investing in Iraq. Although the names of the companies were not given in the reports, they were mostly trading companies and oil companies, some of which had extensive dealings with the Saddam Husain regime in the 1980s, when Japan-Iraq business relations were quite strong.

In the first half of February, unnamed Japanese government officials toured Basra “to pave the way for yen-loan-financed reconstruction projects.” Specifically mentioned by Kyodo News were tours of the fertilizer plant in Khor al-Zubair, the South Refineries Company in Basra, and the port facilities at Umm Qasr. One Iraqi official was quoted as saying, “We’ve been waiting for you for thirty years.” The impressions of the Japanese inspectors seem to have been mixed. One said, “They have done very well despite all these years of economic sanctions. It is surprising that the facilities are working properly in this situation.” Another was more downbeat, “There would be no engineer who would not feel heartbroken seeing this current situation.” If you go back to Shingetsu Newsletter No. 580 in April 2007, you will see that Japan has had some of these specific projects in the Basra area earmarked since at least that time.

Our only report on the Iraqi delegation coming to Japan comes from MOFA. The iniative was called the “Government Survey Mission for Technology and Science of Iraq.” It toured Japan from February 22nd to March 1st and was headed by President of the Iraqi Red Crescent Society Yaseen Ahmed Abbas. The purpose was “to examine science and technology policies and business-academia collaboration in Japan.” A courtesy call was paid on the president of the Japanese Red Cross Society.

In Shingetsu Newsletter No. 1152 in late September 2008 we already mentioned that JICA was considering the establishment of an office in Arbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). In early February, a report in the Asahi Shinbun provided more detail. It was said that at least three Japanese officials would be posted full-time to the JICA Arbil office. JICA had sent an advance party to the region last July and preparations for opening the office are said to be close to completion. Indeed, it sounds like the official announcement could come any day now. JICA officials had decided that Japanese in-country staff would be needed to oversee future loan projects to Iraq, including one to rehabilitate the Al-Mussaib thermal power plant in central part of the country.

ENERGY NEWS

Mitsubishi Gets Role in Shell Gas Project

In energy industry news, it was reported in mid-February that the Iraqi government had agreed that Mitsubishi Corporation can partner Royal Dutch Shell in a joint venture to build a pipeline and plant infrastructure for natural gas from oil fields around Basra. The overall project is valued at around US$3.5 billion. The partners are Iraqi state-run South Gas Company (51%) and Royal Dutch Shell (49%). Under the terms of Shell’s original agreement, they were required to secure an international partner to help with the cost of development. It appears that Mitsubishi Corporation will be that partner. This looks like a big money deal.

Decision on Nasiriya Oil Field Expected This Month

Reports have suggested that the Iraqi Oil Ministry will award a service contract to develop the Nasiriya oil field sometime in March. As we reported most recently in Shingetsu Newsletter No. 1261, Japan’s Nippon Oil are competing against Italy’s Eni SpA and Spain’s Repsol. According to Oil Ministry estimates, the oil field has reserves of about 4.4 billion barrels with a potential of producing at least 300,000 barrels a day. Win or lose, we’ll report how it goes for Nippon Oil.

ELECTION OBSERVERS

At the end of January, a five-man delegation led by MOFA Deputy Director General of the Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau Takehiro Ogawa served as election observers for the Provincial Election of Iraq. After the elections were held, MOFA released the following statement:

Statement by the Press Secretary on the Provincial Election in Iraq
February 2, 2009

Japan welcomes the news that the Provincial Election of Iraq, which has a great significance for the firm establishment of democracy in the country, was conducted on January 31 (Sat).

While it was regrettable that election obstructions, such as murder of candidates, were observed across Iraq during the election, Japan pays respect to the Iraqi government and people for their efforts that enabled the holding of the election despite these despicable acts.

Japan dispatched an Election Observation Mission, which consisted of five members, headed by Mr. Takehiro Kagawa, Deputy Director-General of the Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to support the fair and smooth implementation of the election. According to the Mission, the election was generally implemented in a peaceful manner.

Japan expects that the political process, including the remaining issues, will make further progress in Iraq. Japan will continue to actively support the efforts of the Iraqi government and people for such end.