ISTANBUL - Robert Connan, Iraq Private Sector Business Development Director, said on Thursday that he saw that Turkey was ready to enter Iraqi market.
Delivering a speech at a seminar entitled ''making business in Iraq'', Connan informed participants on business opportunities in Iraq.
Connan who has been working in Iraq for five months said that there were very important opportunities in Iraq and stated that north of Iraq had peculiarities which could compete with Turkey with its water and fields which were not used now.
Stating that people should not only take into account news on BBC and CNN regarding security in Iraq, Connan said that there were developments in commercial field in this country.
Stressing that Iraq was a market which had different and special conditions, Connan said that there were many Turkish businessmen in Iraq. He added that he considered that Turkey was ready to enter this market.
Connan said that Turkish businessmen should work with a security company before they went to Iraq and businessmen should consider security issue as their own problem and stated that it was possible to reach hotels in Iraq through internet.
Informing participants on transportation and taxation in Iraq, Connan said that direct foreign investor law allowed hundred percent of foreign possession.
Connan said that a law which arranged how a company could be set up in Iraq would go into effect this month.
Connan also invited Turkish businessmen to participate in tenders worth 18.6 billion U.S. dollars which would be opened in Iraq as of January 15.
Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO) Chairman Tanil Kucuk said that Turkey was the country which would undertake the most constructive role with the United States in reconstruction process of Iraq.
Kucuk noted that trade volume between Turkey and Iraq was about 700-800 million U.S. dollars as of 2003 and stated that this figure was 2.5 billion U.S. dollars before Gulf War. He added that there would be activity again in commercial relations between the two countries with settlement of stability in Iraq.
(EÖ-AÖ) 08.01.2004