Investing in Iraq’s Industrial Sectors – ‘Public & Mixed’
19-20 April 2008, Dubai
Iraqi Minister of Industry & Minerals HE Fawzi Hariri has announced the forthcoming 'Investing in Iraq’s Industrial Sectors - Public & Mixed' Commercial Investment Summit, to be held in Dubai on 19-20 April 2008.
The summit comes following the decision by Minister Hariri to open up Iraq's state owned industries to the global market. This will allow international companies the opportunity to be joint venture partners, as Iraq begins its journey from centrally planned economy to regional economic powerhouse.
Such partnerships and production sharing agreements will play a leading role in Iraq's industrial rehabilitation. Over 40 of the country's most productive and lucrative state owned enterprises are now looking to enter into such agreements, having been given the go-ahead by the Ministry.
Therefore, a senior delegation of Iraqi officials will be travelling to Dubai to sign agreements with operators and investors for these opportunities. The delegation will be led by the Minister and will feature the six leading director generals from the Ministry along with government legal advisors. The officials are responsible for Iraq's six primary industrial sectors, these being petrochemicals, food and pharmaceuticals, construction, engineering, industrial services and textiles.
A comprehensive Ministry strategy has been adopted with the following objectives in mind:
To change the role of the Ministry from a holding company for SOEs to a development agency for the stimulation of the industrial sector and a regulatory agency for the private sector
To increase the industrial output of Iraq's SOEs and private sector companies and subsequently increase the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
To establish a comprehensive system for the recovery of minerals, further increasing their contribution to GDP
To introduce new technologies and modern systems with a central aim of promoting entrepreneurialism, innovation and business creation
Participation is strongly recommended for all international operators, the summit providing one of the first opportunities to participate in the development of Iraq’s largest non-oil sectors and sign letters of intent with the director generals individually responsible for over 40 of Iraq’s leading state owned enterprises. For a full list of Iraq's state owned enterprises please visit the Ministry website: www.industry.gov.iq
The summit will follow a meetings-based format, where delegates can meet face-to-face with the attending SOE director generals and other key Iraqi officials, carrying out assessments of the respective SOEs. The summit is the only business forum that provides this unique opportunity under the Ministry of Industry & Minerals.
To find out more about opportunities for attendance please email info@developmentprogram.org or visit: www.iraqdevelopmentprogram.org
