Invest Basra

Despite the security challenges faced by Basra, the economic outlook is good. The province holds 80 percent of Iraq's oil reserves and is home to Iraq's only deep sea port and trade routes to the Gulf. The region offers opportunity for investments in oil and gas development, agro processing, construction and airport and ports development. Most recently Iraqi Deputy Prime Minster Barham Saleh endorsed the plans of the Provincial Government to set up the Basra Investment Promotion Agency, together with the establishment of the Basra Development Commission - an independent champion for investment and economic development in Southern Iraq.

CONFERENCE OVERVIEW

The Basra Development Commission was formally announced in December 2007 after discussions between Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. It was agreed that Southern Iraq would benefit greatly from an Iraqi-owned independent business champion for Basra incorporating both Iraqi and international expertise and focussed on promoting measures to for economic growth in Basra.

This event provides the first opportunity for the Basra Development Commission to engage with investors in the region and to determine what actions investors feel the Commission should undertake in pursuit of a vibrant private sector in Southern Iraq.

OBJECTIVES

Invest Basra 2008 will bring together:

• companies in Southern Iraq looking for investors,
• regional investors with plans to do business in Southern Iraq, and
• Iraqi government officials representing key Ministries and with remits covering investment promotion, enterprise reform, public private partnerships, and infrastructure development.

The conference provides investors with the first opportunity to address constraints to investment in Southern Iraq and to task the Basra Development Commission with making tangible improvements to their investment opportunities in the short to medium term.

It also provides a venue for Iraqi companies to meet with investors and for investors to:

• assess progress in Southern Iraq;
• review opportunities;
• make contact with public and private sector entities in Southern Iraq; and
• initiate concept level discussions with investors, enquirers and interlocutors.

The conference will include discussions on the investment environment in Southern Iraq and related laws with specific break out groups and discussions on sectors ranging from airport and port development to business partnerships, tourism and agriculture.