|
ARBIL, Iraq: South Korean businessman Kim
Jeong-Hee experiences close Kurd-Korean cooperation
daily: everywhere he goes he is accompanied by a
Kurdish peshmerga soldier armed with a Kalashnikov
rifle.
Jeong-Hee arrived in Iraq’s Kurdish zone last month
as part of a 3,600-strong South Korean military
deployment to the city of Arbil which Kurds hope
could yield business opportunities with Korean
companies. Kurdish leader Nechirvan Barzani is
visiting South Korea to promote friendly relations
and his delegation, which includes Kurdish business
representatives, will meet Korean industry chiefs to
explore corporate cooperation.
In Arbil, a close relationship is already developing
between Korean business and the Kurds. While most
foreign companies in the Kurdish zone use western
security experts to protect their employees,
Jeong-Hee and around 40 other Korean civilians are
guarded by members of the peshmerga militia, the
Kurdish standing army.
“The peshmerga’s strongpoint is that their mentality
is very good ... and it certainly makes things
easier when we pass through checkpoints,” said
Jeong-Hee, a-35-year-old contractor.
Jeong-Hee points to South Korea’s use of Kurdish
firms to help construct a multi-million dollar base
for Korean troops on the edge of Arbil to illustrate
budding business ties. His company is overseeing the
creation of the facility on behalf of the Korean
military, which recently awarded contracts worth
$2.3 million for Arbil businesses to provide
construction materials and other equipment.
“This is a good opportunity to increase the
cooperation and relationship between our countries,”
Jeong-Hee said. “It wasn’t easy since we need
trustworthy merchants and we’re not familiar with
the environment ... but we think this (project) will
have an impact on Arbil’s economy.”
Autonomy: Many foreign firms have long operated in
Iraq’s Kurdish zone, which gained autonomy from
Baghdad after the 1991 Gulf War and preserves a much
greater degree of stability than much of the south
and central parts of the country.
South Korea began deploying in July, hoping to
minimise the risk to troops it agreed to contribute
to the U.S.-led forces in Iraq by basing its forces
to the Kurdish area. Kurdish companies already have
a history of ties with South Korea — their zone has
been a transit point for millions of dollars worth
of Korean electronics products each month.
Kurdish businessmen are particularly keen on the
prospect of future Korean private investment in the
Kurdish area, rather than short-term gain from
military contracts.
Ibrahim al-Sofy is head of al-Sofy company — one of
four successful bidders for the military contracts
and now the sole Kurdish supplier of electronic
goods and office furniture to the Korean military.
“A million-dollar contract is nothing particularly
huge for us,” said Sofy, who employs more than 50
permanent staff. “The exciting thing is that the
Koreans are indicating there could be more
opportunities to come.” Sofy started trading with
South Korean companies in the 1980s, importing
textile and fabric products totalling more than $12
million since his company’s inception in 1982.
He said he was trying to persuade his Korean
partners to establish a factory in Arbil to make
textiles from the large amounts of raw fabric
produced in the Kurdish area. “Millions of metres of
fabric are produced here daily — a textile factory
here could be a massive business,” he said.
Eager merchants: Arbil’s business community is still
waiting for the Koreans to announce reconstruction
projects in the Kurdish zone but trade opportunities
are already being explored, officials say.
Latif Aref, general director of the Kurdistan
Regional Government’s office for registering
companies, said there had been a 25 percent rise in
new registrations of Kurdish companies since Arbil
was formally selected as the location for the Korean
deployment.
“We are going to see much wider export and import
trade with the Korean market,” said Aref, adding
that a long-awaited foreign investment law would
soon be put into action.
Sitting outside Arbil’s unfinished airport terminal
with his Kurdish mobile phone glued to his ear,
Jeong-Hee agreed that the Kurdish zone could be ripe
for foreign investment — provided the investment
laws provided guarantees for foreign firms. “The
region does have good advantages — like easy access
to Turkey, Syria and Iran. The Kurds could make this
area into prosperous free-trade zone,” he said.
As he headed off to a meeting with his peshmerga
bodyguard in tow, Jeong-Hee offered a brief
assessment of the main issue overshadowing the
Korean deployment. “Security? Well, it’s better than
Baghdad — but nobody can guarantee perfect security
in Iraq.”
Top |
® 