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Business in Baghdad
Security gives much needed “space” to governments–and business. A year ago, this would have been unthinkable:
Business Convention Comes to Baghdad
By BRADLEY BROOKS – 1 day ago
BAGHDAD (AP) — Nattily dressed Iraqi businessmen mingled Saturday with a few of their American counterparts at the first business exposition to be held in Baghdad since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
About 260 vendors — almost all Iraqi — set up booths on the ground floor of the Green Zone’s al-Rashid Hotel, which still bears the scars of a 2003 rocket attack.
Hundreds of visitors crammed the hallways, picking up brochures and free candies from the booths of businesses mostly reflecting the immediate needs of Iraq: construction, security, logistics and raw goods.
“We’ve broken a barrier,” said Raad Ommar, CEO of the Iraqi-American Chamber of Commerce, which along with the U.S. State Department’s Baghdad provincial reconstruction team organized the event. “We wanted to show that there is normal life in Iraq, to help foreign investors see and feel that it is safe to come.”
Bassam Ayoub, a Lebanese businessman and purchasing manager for GLS, a logistical support company that delivers goods to the U.S. military, has only been in Iraq three months. He said he considered the convention as a key to breaking into the local business scene.
“It’s a great opportunity for me,” Ayoub said. “I’m new here and I can find out what is happening in Iraqi business and meet people.”
Ahmed Sadoon Yaseen, the director of the state-run Handmade Carpet Company, was hoping his display of silk and wool rugs would attract those who could afford them. One of Yaseen’s large silk carpets fetches nearly $3,000 — out of reach for nearly all Iraqis, he said.
“The security situation doesn’t allow for any tourists in Iraq,” he said. “I’m hoping some foreigners will be here and can get the word out about my carpets.”
Several state-run enterprises were also represented, while some American companies already working in Iraq, such as L-3 Communications, which provides translation services for the U.S. military and others, had booths as well.
Cathy Moll, L-3 Communications’ lead recruiter for local translators, said the convention was a rare opportunity to get the word out in a public forum about what the company does and what kind of workers it needs.
“We’re helping lead the way for American companies to get into Iraq,” she said, noting that L-3 employs about 7,000 Iraqi translators. “For American companies to come to Iraq would be a great thing for the people, it would create so many jobs.”
Moll said recruiting Iraqis can be a difficult task because of the danger involved, but that being at the convention might change perceptions of her company.
“It is hard to get (Iraqis) to work for American companies,” she said. “We have to get beyond that stigma that it is dangerous to work for an American company.”
Many Iraqis are wary of working with or for any American companies for fear of being targeted and killed by extremist groups.