Agility files for arbitration over dispute with govt

Kuwaiti logistics firm Agility has filed for arbitration over a USD380 million dispute with the Iraqi government over its investment in the nation’s telecommunications sector. Reuters writes that Agility has filed for arbitration with the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, claiming that the government had ‘indirectly confiscated’ its more than USD380 million investment, violating a bilateral agreement between Kuwait and Iraq encouraging the movement of capital and investment between the two nations. No further details of the complaint were provided. Agility is a minority shareholder in Korek Telecom, having held a stake in the provider since 2007, though in 2011 it formed a joint venture with France’s Orange Group to acquire a 44% stake in the cellco.