Baghdad trade show to open in Turkey
Some 150 companies from 20 countries were due to take part in the three-day Destination Expo Baghdad, organized by the Iraqi-American Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IACCI), a spokesman for the IACCI, Eric Nigh, said.
"The goal of the fair is to allow Iraqi companies to come together with foreign companies. We are hoping that the fair will allow them to set up partnerships to compete for reconstruction projects in Iraq," Nigh said.
Primary contracts in a massive programme of reconstruction in the war-torn country have been handed largely to US companies and their allies, but from July, firms from non-coalition countries will be allowed to bid for contracts.
Nigh said many foreign companies stayed away from Iraq because they lacked contacts in that country.
"We want to encourage private companies to come on their own. They are afraid to come because they do not know anybody," Nigh said, adding that the fair will give them an opportunity to meet Iraqi businessmen.
The fair was originally supposed to take place in Baghdad in April but the IACCI announced it had postponed the event after reviewing the overall security situation with coalition officials.
The postponement followed a travel warning by the United States that it could not guarantee the security of US citizens at the trade fair, which was supposed to be the first of its kind to be held in the Iraqi capital since the end of the war last year.
After considering holding the fair in Kurdish-held northern Iraq, the IACCI finally settled on Diyarbakir, the regional capital of Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast, upon an invitation from the local chamber of commerce.
The change of venue meant that the planned attendance by US overseer Paul Bremer and Iraqi ministers had to be called off, but several representatives from Iraqi ministries will be in Diyarbakir, Nigh said.
The IACCI is considering plans to hold another trade show in the Iraqi capital in November or December when it hopes the security situation will have improved in the wake of the June 30 transfer of sovereignty from the US-led coalition to an interim Iraqi authority.
