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Companies seek new opportunities in Iraq
MADRID, Spain (AP) -- The country is a shambles after years of war and decay under Saddam Hussein, the U.S. occupiers are coming under frequent attack and there's still no permanent government. But that isn't stopping global businesses from sniffing out opportunities in Iraq. "The timing is almost perfect," gushed John Disharoon from construction king Caterpillar. "Things are starting to move forward." As governments gathered Thursday to drum up public money for Iraq's reconstruction, more than 300 executives from corporate giants General Motors Corp., Motorola Inc., The Coca-Cola Co. and others showed up for a parallel private investors conference a few hundreds yards (meters) away. Many expressed enthusiasm after hearing from Iraqi officials about the country's potential, even as they confessed nagging fears about security. L. Paul Bremer III, the U.S. administrator in Iraq, told reporters that attacks, carried out mostly by members of Iraq's former ruling Baath party, "pose no strategic threat to our forces." But he added that terrorism did pose a "serious threat." Saddam released 100,000 convicts before he was deposed, Bremer said. "The United States cannot capture them overnight." Ali Allawi, trade minister on the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, conceded at the opening session that security was in a "state of flux," but insisted it was "not intolerable" compared to some countries in Latin America or Asia. Some business leaders felt the same. "Of course we have concerns but it's our business," said Hans Kraus of Intecsa-Uhde, a joint venture by Germany's Thyssen Group and Spanish construction company Dragados. "We're not building chemical plants in Paris or London," he said. "We tend to work in countries that aren't all that pleasant -- Iran, Algeria, and now maybe Iraq." DaimlerChrysler vice president Timothy McBride cited a training program already underway in Afghanistan to teach former soldiers "basic auto-repair skills." The automaker recently delivered 20 semitrailers filled with relief supplies and training equipment for the Afghan workers. "We have a tradition of establishing a strong presence in difficult markets," he said. In Iraq, DaimlerChrysler is already selling some Mercedes and Chrysler cars and Freightliner trucks as it re-establishes its distribution network. "We're in the process of trying to reconnect with customers there," McBride said. Iraqi officials sought to paint the same rosy outlook even as they delivered a laundry list of basic needs back at the main donors conference, from clean water and housing to health care and even pesticides to restart agriculture. More than two-thirds of Iraqis depend on food rations, less than half have access to regular drinking water, 20 percent of children under the age of five are malnourished, maternal mortality has quadrupled and diseases such as malaria are coming back to Iraq, officials said. "We inherited Iraq in a deplorable state," said Mouwaffek al-Rubaie, another council member. He and others pressed for an economic "kick start" to combat a crippling 60 percent unemployment rate. Free-market reforms, responsible government and Iraq's central location in an oil-rich region should give investors incentives "equal to or better than any that they would face in any other parts of the world," Allawi said. "Our intention is to build a new Japan in the Middle East," al-Rubaie added. The Ministry of Industry and Minerals unveiled plans to open 13 state-owned companies -- including those making clothing, vegetable oil, dairy and chemicals -- to leasing by private firms. That attracted the interest of U.S. and New Zealand agricultural groups, said Fred Schwien, representing the U.S. Commerce Department. "The dairy folks are excited," he said, without identifying the companies. Not everyone was convinced. Jean-Louis Salas, managing director of energy, exports and projects in Iraq at the French bank BNP Paribas, said there were two big problems: Iraq's crushing debt, which makes new lending difficult, and the fact that Iraq remains an occupied country. "You can't do an investment until there is a legitimate government in Iraq," he said. "So far, it's not at all a government but just a governing council" Others disagreed. "There is enough for us in Iraq to begin to explore seriously," said DaimlerChrysler's McBride. "I don't see it's necessary to wait for an Iraqi government to be formed." Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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