Telegraph: Iraq Reopens for Business

I think this is amazing. Mothercare is doing business in Kurdistan now! A lot of other companies- mostly oil companies -are taking the risk of setting up their businesses in Iraq, and I'm hoping more corporations will follow. Hopefully these businesses will help bring some stability to that long-suffering country!


Photograph courtesy of The Telegraph
The Telegraph: Iraq Reopens For Business
Despite the continuing dangers, the rebuilding of the country could prove to be one of the biggest global investment opportunities to arise in the last half-century.

On July 15, Harlow International, a British construction company, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the re-opening of the famous Al-Rasheed Hotel in Baghdad’s Green Zone.

Unsurprisingly, when investors think of Iraq, they most probably think of risk. After two decades of conflict, to outsiders, the Middle Eastern country is perhaps not the most hospitable place to do business. But in reality, the rebuilding of Iraq – and the by-products that will spring from that process – could yet prove to be one of the biggest global investment opportunities to arise in the last half-century.

As it stands, Iraq rates as one of the worst places in the world to do business, languishing at 166th out of 183 countries, according to a World Bank report.

For starting a business it ranks even lower, at 174th. That hasn’t stopped a flurry of British businesses doing just that, however. In late June, retailer Mothercare announced its decision to launch its first shop in the country in Arbil, the capital of semi-autonomous Kurdistan in the north. And just two weeks ago, UK-based Afren made a £360m investment in proven oil fields – its first in the country.

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