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THE PRESENT SITUATION IN IRAQ PRESENTS MYRIAD OPPORTUNITIES FOR US BUSINESSES IN GENERAL
Commerce Assistant Secretary for Market Access and Compliance and Chairman of the Iraq and Afghanistan Investment and Reconstruction Task Force William H. Lash III today announced that the Department will travel across the country to promote trade and investment opportunities in Iraq. Over the next several weeks, Lash and Susan Hamrock, Senior Advisor for Iraq Policy at Commerce, will travel to 12 cities to discuss trade assistance programs and government support for private investment.
The announcement comes on the heels of a successful business conference in Washington, D.C. where nearly 500 U.S. firms showed up to learn more about doing business in Iraq. Commerce Secretary Don Evans hosted the conference.

"Business conditions are improving every day in Iraq, creating a greater opportunity for U.S. businesses to explore a virtually untapped market," Evans noted Wednesday. "The country is taking the appropriate steps to compete in the global business arena and is showing remarkable progress in establishing institutions and creating environments conducive to modern commerce."
The World Trade Organization's approval of Iraq's observer status symbolizes the global community's confidence in Iraq. For the business community it shows that Iraq is moving towards a transparent and predictable marketplace.
"Iraq has taken great strides toward creating a friendly environment for foreign investment," Lash said. "Iraq and Afghanistan present some of the greatest economic opportunities of our time. Companies need to take a hard look at the emerging opportunities."
DWI SHOULD BEGIN WITH OPPORTUNITIES FOR REPAIRS AND RECONSTRUCTION OF IRAQ'S OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY
The massive repairs and reconstruction of Iraq's oil and gas industry will be featured prominently as an opportunity in Iraq, the leading oil and gas country in the Middle East, which brings together some of the world's foremost players in specialized equipment in exploration, drilling, mapping, maintenance, safety & rescue, fighting and corrosion protection.
According to a recent Deutsche Bank report, there could be as much as US$1.5 billion in contracts to upgrade wells and pipes around the oil production facilities in Iraq. The country which has 112.5 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, used to earlier produce 2.8 million barrels of oil per day. With the modernisation and repair of its infrastructure, experts say that Iraq could be producing an additional million barrels of oil per day. Targeting the oil, gas, petrochemical onshore and offshore industries, OGS will be held at the Dubai Airport Expo from October 12 to 15, 2003.

'Iraq's three large oilfields are said to be considerably damaged due to its erratic production cycles and reports estimate its pipelines, ports and pumping stations are in a state of disrepair. DWI has the requisite expertise to assist in the rebuilding of the Iraqi oil industry. Iraq also sits on 110-trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The opportunity is very attractive for those companies associated with the exploration, extraction, processing, storage and transport of oil and gas especially those from major oil companies who have already initiated the process of obtaining service contracts in Iraq,' said David Domoney, Managing Director, International Conferences & Exhibitions (IC&E). DWI should step in where international and regional companies are looking to network with suppliers in the industry and explore opportunities to gain a foothold in Iraq,' he added.

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DWI CURRENTLY HAS EXCELLENT OIL RESERVES DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN IRAQ
Iraq has the world's second largest proven oil reserves. According to oil industry experts, new exploration will probably raise Iraq's reserves to 2-300 billion barrels of high-grade crude, extraordinarily cheap to produce, leading to a gold rush of profits for international oil firms in the post-Saddam era. The four giant firms located in the US and the UK have been keen to get back into Iraq, from which they were excluded with the nationalization of 1972. They face companies from France, Russia, China, ...