Baghdad fair opens its doors to investors

The 10-day trade show follows investment conferences in Washington last month and London in May aimed at courting firms interested in doing business in Iraq, with another such meeting due in Berlin this month.

“We hope this fair will help us establish economic and commercial relations with different countries around the world, and we also want to allow our private companies to build links with their foreign counterparts,” interim Trade Minister Safaldin al-Safi said at the opening.

Despite an international embargo following Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait, some 1,200 companies from 49 countries, mostly Arab states but also France and Germany, attended in 2002.

It was inaugurated by then vice-president Taher Yassin Ramadan, who has since been executed.

The fair's buildings were destroyed by aerial bombardment during the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

This year, the 36th time the fair has been held, 396 countries from 32 countries are attending, according to Hashim Mohammed Hatem, head of the government agency that organized the event.

Neighbouring Iran has the most companies represented with 60, followed by Turkey with 36. France and Brazil also have a major presence with 35 and 20 firms respectively.

Hatem said that only five companies — all of them Arab — attended the first Baghdad International Fair in 1964.

Baghdad Governor Salah Abdul Razzaq said he hoped that each year would see increasing numbers of participants.

In a sign of its openness for international investment, Iraq dropped a requirement for participants to pledge to boycott Israel, according to a foreign ministry memo obtained by AFP.

The ministry distributed the document dated October 7 to foreign embassies and the Baghdad offices of international organizations, diplomats from two countries confirmed.

“The ministry of foreign affairs ... has the honor to inform that Paragraph (45) of the Conditions & Instructions of participating in the 36th Session of Baghdad International Fair, implying that the companies willing to participate in the said Fair are bind to present an 'Israel-boycott document,' has been called off (sic),” the English-language version of the memo said.

A European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that the European Union in May applied pressure on Iraq to drop the clause, warning that European companies would not attend otherwise.

Previously, firms wishing to participate had to sign a document binding them to boycott Israel before their registration was confirmed.

Germany will also host a two-day investment conference for Iraq in Berlin on November 5 and 6, the country's embassy in Baghdad said last month.

Finance Minister Baqer Jabr Solagh estimated last year that Iraq needed US$400 billion to rebuild the country.

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