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GCCIA Signs Contracts for Iraq Interconnection Project

The Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) signs contract in Dammam to provide Iraq with electricity (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) signs contract in Dammam to provide Iraq with electricity (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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GCCIA Signs Contracts for Iraq Interconnection Project

The Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) signs contract in Dammam to provide Iraq with electricity (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) signs contract in Dammam to provide Iraq with electricity (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) signed five contracts worth $220 million with the companies implementing the electricity interconnection project between the Gulf states and Iraq.

The Authority will construct lines of 295 km from the al-Wafra station in Kuwait to the al-Faw station in southern Iraq to transfer 500 megawatts in the first phase, with a total of 1,800 megawatts, according to the Authority.

The project includes supplying and installing circuit breakers, electrical reactors, and measurement and control systems for the construction and expansion of substations in al-Wafra and al-Faw.

It also includes consulting services for preparing environmental and social studies and supervision of implementation.

The project would contribute to the supply of electricity to the Southern Region Electricity Network and support the demand for electricity in Basra.

It also lays the foundations for the future exchange and trade of electric energy between the Gulf state and Iraq under the umbrella of a regional and Arab electricity market to ensure the sustainability of electric power.

The contracts were signed by the CEO of the Authority, Ahmed al-Ibrahim, with representatives of companies approved to implement the project at the GCCIA in Dammam.

Ibrahim confirmed that the project would boost the electricity cooperation with Iraq and that the Authority would adopt expansion projects for the interconnection network aimed at increasing energy reliability in the Gulf network.

The project represents outstanding opportunities for energy exchange with Iraq, especially in light of the increase in the capacity of the electrical connection to achieve economical operation, especially in the summer, said Ibrahim.

He also explained that it would increase the network's security and stability, reduce interruptions, and contribute to meeting part of the demand.

Iraq signed an agreement to connect its power grid to the GCC interconnection grid in July 2022, on the sidelines of the Jeddah Security and Development Summit, under the directives of Gulf leaders to consolidate cooperation and partnership between the countries of the Cooperation Council and the Republic of Iraq.

The project will be funded by the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) and the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD), which also signed a financing agreement with GCCIA.

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Asian Shares, US Futures Gain as Investors Resume Buying Despite Uncertainty over Tariffs 

Women ride bicycles past monitors showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (AP)
Women ride bicycles past monitors showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (AP)
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Asian Shares, US Futures Gain as Investors Resume Buying Despite Uncertainty over Tariffs 

Women ride bicycles past monitors showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (AP)
Women ride bicycles past monitors showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (AP)

Asian markets advanced on Tuesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 share benchmark initially shooting up more than 6% after it fell nearly 8% a day earlier.

Markets in Thailand and Indonesia tumbled, however, as they reopened after holidays. Trading was suspended briefly in Jakarta when the JSX index fell more than 9%. It was down 7.5% by midday. Thailand's SET lost 5.7%.

In Taiwan, the Taiex lost 4.4%, pulled lower by losses for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., or TSMC, the world's largest computer chip maker. Its shares fell 4% on Tuesday and are down 13.5% since Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs on April 2.

The rebound for most other regional markets followed a wild day on Wall Street, where stocks careened after President Donald Trump threatened to crank his double-digit tariffs higher.

Early Tuesday, China's Commerce Ministry said it would “fight to the end” and take unspecified countermeasures against the United States to safeguard its own interests after Trump threatened an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports.

By early afternoon Tokyo time, the Nikkei 225 was up 5% at 32,691.34.

Hong Kong also recovered some lost ground, but not anything close to the 13.2% dive Monday that gave the Hang Seng its worst day since 1997, during the Asian financial crisis.

The Hang Seng gained 1.6% to 20,140.78, while the Shanghai Composite index jumped 0.9% to 3,124.77.

South Korea’s Kospi edged 0.1% higher to 2,331.80, while the S&P/ASX 200 climbed 1.7% to 7,471.10.

Markets in New Zealand and Australia also were higher.

On Monday, the S&P 500 sagged 0.2% as shell-shocked investors watched to see what Trump will do next in his trade war. If other countries agree to trade deals, he could lower his tariffs and avoid a possible recession. But if he sticks with tariffs for the long haul, stock prices may fall further.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 349 points, or 0.9%, and the Nasdaq composite edged up by 0.1%.

All three indexes started the day sharply lower, and the Dow plunged as many as 1,700 points following even worse losses elsewhere in the world. But it suddenly surged to a gain of nearly 900 points in the late morning. The S&P 500, meanwhile, went from a loss of 4.7% to a leap of 3.4%, which would have been its biggest jump in years.

The spike followed a false rumor that Trump was considering a 90-day pause on his tariffs, one that a White House account on X quickly labeled as “fake news.” That a rumor could move trillions of dollars’ worth of investments shows how much investors are hoping to see signs that Trump may let up on tariffs.

Stocks quickly turned lower. Shortly afterward, Trump dug in further and said he may raise tariffs more against China after the world’s second-largest economy retaliated last week with its own set of tariffs on US products.

Trump’s tariffs are an attack on the globalization that’s shaped today's world economy and helped bring down prices but also caused manufacturing jobs to leave for other countries.

He has said he wants to bring factory jobs back to the United States, a process that could take years. Trump also says he wants to narrow trade deficits with other countries, but it's unclear how much room for negotiation there is on the US side or among its trading partners.

Indexes swung between losses and gains Monday, partly because investors are still hoping negotiations may forestall actual implementation of the stiff duties on all imports.

All that seemed certain Monday was the financial pain hammering investments around the world.

Oil has also fallen, hurt by worries that a global economy weakened by trade barriers will burn less fuel. A barrel of benchmark US crude oil dipped below $60 on Monday for the first time since 2021. Early Tuesday, it was up 90 cents at $61.60 per barrel.

Brent crude, the international standard, gained 89 cents to $65.10 per barrel.

In currency trading, the US dollar fell to 147.78 Japanese yen from 147.85 yen. The euro fell to $1.0976 from $1.0905.

The price of gold rose $32 to about $3,006.00 an ounce.

Bitcoin gained 4.1% to $80,130.00. On Monday it sank below $79,000, down from its record above $100,000 set in January.