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US, Iraqi Leaders Promote Business
Opportunities in Kurdistan
21.2.2007 |
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US touts Kurdistan as business gateway to Iraq
February 21, 2007
Erbil, Kurdistan region (Iraq), -- U.S. and
Iraqi officials have launched a series of talks
aimed at promoting private investment in Iraq's
struggling economy.
Government officials and businesses executives from
the two countries have gathered in Erbil, Iraq, to
discuss opportunities for American companies in
northern Iraq. VOA's Barry Newhouse attended
Tuesday's meeting, and has this report.
The talks are officially called "Iraqi Business
Gateways" and the first round is aimed at
highlighting the merits of Iraq's northern Kurdistan
region. But American and Iraqi officials also want
companies to come here with a plan to expand into
the rest of the country.
Mohammed Raouf Mohammed is the minister of trade of
the Kurdistan Regional Government.
He says Kurdistan is the appropriate and safe
gateway for the rehabilitation of Iraq because of
security and stability.
Officials say they hope northern Iraq's political
stability and lack of sectarian violence will allow
companies to build up experience and knowledge of
the Iraqi economy. The hope is that companies will
eventually expand to the south, where ongoing
fighting has stifled nearly all economic growth.
Frank Lavin is the undersecretary for international
trade at the Commerce Department.
"All societies need job creation, business
expansion, new opportunities," he said. "We think by
working together and sharing ideas we can help Iraq
down that path of economic growth and progress."
"We've seen a boom in the IT (information
technology) sector in last three years. In cell
phones, in Internet hookups, there's been very rapid
rise. So in some sectors, there's really been an
explosive activity," Franklin Lavin, Commerce
undersecretary for international trade, said.
A second initiative called the Iraqi Business
Gateway encourages U.S. companies to look at the
Kurdistan region "as a gateway to the rest of Iraq,"
Lavin said.
Officials say Erbil's growth in recent years is an
indicator of Iraq's potential. Private investors
sunk about $2 billion into the economy of the
greater Erbil area in 2006 and signs of growth
abound.
Construction cranes tower over the skyline,
billboards advertising Korean mobile phones and cars
line the roads, and the city's new airport is
building one of the longest runways in the middle
east and has plans for a Fedex shipping hub.
Erbil and the rest of northern Iraq still face
serious problems - violence in the rest of the
country severely isolates this region, restricting
future growth. Local businesses also struggle with
rising fuel costs and less than two hours of
electricity per day.
But Andrew Wylegala, a U.S. commerce department
official serving in Iraq, says private businesses in
Iraq can offer some help.
He said, "Government has its work set out for it to
continue on basic infrastructure problems, but I
would think that pushing private sector solutions in
this environment is a great idea."
He says an American company building a $140-million
electricity-generating plant is an example of such a
project. The plant is to start selling electricity
to the Kurdistan Regional Government by March 2008.
Some local business leaders in Erbil say U.S.
investment continues to be limited in Iraqi
Kurdistan partly because the U.S. State Department
still "strongly warns" Americans against going to
Iraq.
Japan, Britain, Germany and Sweden have recently
downgraded their official travel warnings for the
region, but Andrew Wylegala says he has not heard of
any plans for a similar change in the U.S. advisory.
Lavin said he expected the Iraqi government would
soon finalize new regulations providing a legal
framework for foreign oil companies to operate in
Iraq.
voanews com | Reuters
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