Asian businesses eyeing Iraq<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse, Singapore<\/p>\n
Hundreds of businesses across Asia are preparing to invest in
\nIraq despite the dangers, U.S. officials on a regional roadshow
\nto promote investment in the war-torn country said here on
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
Singaporean, Chinese, South Korean, Japanese and Australian
\ninvestors have all shown strong interest over the past two months
\nin grabbing a share of the US$18 billion in U.S. government
\ncontracts on offer, they said.<\/p>\n
The Iraq Reconstruction Project Opportunities roadshow,
\ncomprising officials from the U.S. government and Iraq's
\nCoalition Provisional Authority, has also stopped in Seoul and
\nSydney, as well as European and Middle East nations, since the
\nbeginning of March.<\/p>\n
The communication and planning director with the Coalition
\nProvisional Authority's program management office, Jonathon
\nThompson, told AFP more than 600 business people from North Asia
\nattended the Seoul briefing.<\/p>\n
A further 100 businesses were represented at each of the
\nSingapore and Sydney briefings, with Thompson reporting unanimous
\nenthusiasm among the delegates for venturing into Iraq.<\/p>\n
\"I have not experienced any company in all of these meetings
\nwho are reluctant to participate. They wouldn't be here if they
\nwere,\" Thompson said on the sidelines of the Singapore seminar.<\/p>\n
Ted Tan, the assistant chief executive officer at
\nInternational Enterprise Singapore, the city-state's trade
\npromotion board, also said many local firms were poised to invest
\nin Iraq.<\/p>\n
\"A lot of companies are really serious about going to Iraq.
\nThey are looking at working out concrete plans with the primary
\ncontractors,\" Tan told AFP.<\/p>\n
Tan said a number of Singapore companies had already set up
\noperations in countries neighboring Iraq and were waiting for the
\nsecurity risks to subside before venturing across the border.<\/p>\n
The director of Singaporean construction firm Wee Engineers,
\nLiew Chee Kian, attended Monday's seminar and said his firm hoped
\nto set up operations in Iraq in the next six to 12 months.<\/p>\n
\"$8 billion is a lot of money and the country is so big,\" Liew
\ntold AFP. \"It's going to take many years to rebuild the country
\nso the opportunities are definitely there.\"<\/p>\n
Asked about the dangers of working in Iraq, Liew said he did
\nnot believe it was as dangerous as made out in the world's press.<\/p>\n
\"The media is always giving reports on the negative side.
\nThere are a lot of good sides that aren't publicized. There are a
\nlot of areas that are quite safe,\" he said.<\/p>",
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