Iraq

Iraq, a country in Western Asia, is bordered by Jordan to the west, Syria to the northwest, Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, and Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to the south. Iraq is divided into 18 governorates, with Baghdad as the capital. The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and Kurdish, and the currency is the Iraqi dinar (IQD).

Formerly part of the Ottoman Empire, Iraq was occupied by Britain during the course of World War I. In 1920, it was declared a League of Nations mandate under United Kingdom administration. Iraq attained its independence as a kingdom in 1932. A ‘republic’ was proclaimed in 1958. In August 1990, Iraq seized Kuwait but was expelled by United States-led, United Nations coalition forces during the Gulf War of January/February 1991.

In October 2005, Iraqis approved a constitution in a national referendum and, pursuant to this document, elected a 275-member Council of Representatives (CoR) in December 2005. Sustained increases in the standard of living of Iraq still depend on the government passing major policy reforms and developing Iraq's massive oil reserves.

Potential foreign investors now view Iraq with much more interest. Iraq's economy is dominated by the oil sector, which provides over 90% of government revenue and 80% of foreign exchange earnings. Iraq's recent contracts with major oil companies have the potential to greatly expand oil revenues, but Iraq will need to upgrade its refinery and export infrastructure to enable these deals to reach their potential.

PwC has been very active in Iraq since 2006 and has two offices in Erbil, one in Baghdad, and one in Basra.

PwC Iraq provides advisory, audit, and tax services for key government entities, as well as banks, financial institutions, oil and gas companies, industrial companies, and agricultural companies within the Iraqi private sector. We support clients with the local knowledge and skills of our people and with access to a broad range of other professionals across the PwC global network of firms.