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Hundreds of companies take part in
Kurdistan DBX International Trade
12.11.2006
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About 370 companies show up,
hoping to win the rights to infrastructure projects.
Sulaimaniyah,
Kurdistan Region (Iraq), -- Hundreds of
companies from around the world looking for
opportunities in Iraq took part Saturday in an
international fair in the peaceful semi-autonomous
Kurdistan Region in the north. The 2nd Annual
Kurdistan DBX International Trade Show, Sulaimaniyah,
Kurdistan Region (Iraq) from 11-14 November 2006
The fair, organized by the Iraqi American chamber of
commerce, was inaugurated by Nechirvan Barzani, the
prime minister of the Kurdistan regional government.
About 370 companies from around the world -
including five from the United States, 50 from
Germany and 24 from Italy - were taking part in the
four-day conference. |
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister
Nechirvan Barzani |
Most of the companies specialize in infrastructure
and construction, badly needed projects that have
been held up by Iraq's violence and U.N. sanctions
before that. Some of the companies were expected to
sign deals with Kurdistan's regional government.
Unlike the rest of Iraq, the three Kurdish provinces
in the north are safe and tightly controlled by tens
of thousands of local militiamen.
The region became essentially autonomous after the
1991 Gulf War, when the U.S. imposed a no-fly zone
there and kept Saddam Hussein's forces out. After
the fall of his regime in April 2003, the Peshmerga
(Kurdistan National Guards) secured the area.
''Whoever wants to invest in this region is
welcome,'' Barzani told The Associated Press after
opening the fair.
Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani's
speech at the
opening day of the Second Annual Kurdistan DBX
International Trade Show in Sulaimaniyah
The executive director of the Iraqi American chamber
of commerce, Raad Ammar, said the fair was being
held for the second consecutive year in Sulaimaniyah
city.
''This fair shows that reconstruction conference can
be held on our land and not abroad so that all
Iraqis come and take part,'' said Ammar, who is not
Kurdish.
Before 1991, a Baghdad fair held annually since 1964
drew exhibitors from some 50 countries in one of the
major trade shows in the Arab world.
Participation dropped as Iraq suffered under
crippling 13-year economic sanctions imposed in 1990
to punish Saddam for his invasion of Kuwait.
AP
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