Iraqi-Dutch Business Conference, 22 januari 2008
Speech by the Netherland's Economic Affairs Minister, Ms. Maria van der Hoeven, at the Iraqi-Dutch Business Conference, The Hague, January 22, 2008.
Your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
First, a warm word of welcome to His Excellency Deputy Prime Minister Barham Ahmid Salih, to His Excellency the Deputy Oil Minister, Ahmid Abdulamir Abdilhussain, their delegation, and to His Excellency Siamend al Banaa, the Iraqi Ambassador to the Netherlands. We are pleased and honored that you are attending this conference to explore a number of issues on co-operation between the business communities of both our nations.
I would also like to congratulate the Netherlands' Council for Trade Promotion and FME-CWM, the trade association for the Dutch technological-industrial sector, with their initiative to organize this event. And finally, a word of appreciation for Royal Dutch Shell. The company contributed to the costs for this conference, which is financed by the Economic Affairs Ministry. The financial involvement of my ministry shows that I attach great importance to this meeting. For doing business together is an important factor in the stable development of Iraq. And stability is an essential ingredient to a good business climate.
The idea behind this conference is to bring together companies from both the Netherlands and Iraq. Considering the number of participants - about 50 from Iraq and an even larger number from my own country - the conference is already a success.
Your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen!
For centuries, Dutch business and trade people have been famous because they relished challenges, both at home and in faraway lands. It should not come as a surprise, therefore, that the Dutch business community is looking at Iraq's potential with keen interest. Today and tomorrow, the focus is on oil, maritime infrastucture and water management. But there are many more sectors in which the Dutch could make a contribution: "dry" infrastructure, for instance, as well as transport, financial services - you name it.
Both the Dutch business community and the government are dedicated to Iraq's reconstruction. Economic progress is essential to the nation's political stability and the process of bringing democracy to the country. Iraq, after all, is part of ancient Mesopotamia, considered by many as the cradle of Western civilization. In my view, that fact alone creates an obligation for nations such as the Netherlands to assist in rebuilding Iraq.
My government fulfills this commitment in a number of ways. One of them is the so-called "Iraq Facility" of the Dutch Economic Affairs Ministry. This program's goal is to finance 50 percent of the costs of projects in Iraq that have been selected by the Netherlands' Agency for International Business and Cooperation (EVD). Eligible projects are required to meet several criteria, among them that they should contribute to the reconstruction of Iraq's economic infrastructure, and that they will directly benefit the population. The program involves the transfer of know-how and expertise of Dutch companies to their Iraqi counterparts.
Basically, the Iraq facility is meant for the entire territory of Iraq. For the time being, however, its applicability is restricted to specific areas of the country for obvious reasons. But I am glad to report that thanks to the improved security situation, the Iraq facility has been opened in three Northern provinces - Dohuk, Erbil and Suleimaniya. In 2007, 2.25 million euros have been earmarked for the program, resulting in three projects that will take off around this time.
Allow me to tell you a little bit more about them. By their nature, they fall outside the scope of this conference, but they are clear examples of how things can be set in motion.
In Northern Iraq, a Dutch pharmaceutical company plans to contribute to improving the level of medical care by opening a distribution center in Dohuk. As the Iraqi participants to this conference know all to well, drugs and other medical products are currently difficult to obtain in Iraq. The partners in this project hope to change all that.
The second project involves a dental clinic and laboratory in Erbil. In a joint venture with Iraqi partners, a dental firm from the northern Dutch city of Groningen plans to build a state-of-the-art facility. It will not only vastly improve dental care for the population of Erbil. The project also aims at transferring know-how through training programs for dental students at the local university.
Finally, I would like to mention a project in the agricultural sector. A joint venture will be set up between a Dutch company and Iraqi partners for the development of a huge fruit orchard combined with refrigeration and packaging facilities. The project will be a boon to the development of the badly neglected local fruit sector. Moreover, it will lead to permanent as well as seasonal jobs and to the export to Iraq of modern technology.
Needless to say, these projects are mutually beneficial. They will contribute to Iraq's economic and social resurrection, to be sure. But they will also enable Dutch companies to recover the positions they enjoyed in the past - and, hopefully, lead to profitable follow-ups with new and existing business partners in Iraq.
Your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen!
Things are slowly but steadily looking up in Iraq. I hope and trust this trend will continue. And although there are many positive developments to report, there remains a lot to be done, not at least on the economic front. As I have shown, I am firmly committed to help Iraq negotiate the difficult road to economic recovery.
I hope and expect that today and tomorrow, you will show the same commitment by forging tangible business partnerships, benefiting both Iraq and the Netherlands.
Thank you.
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