Iraq First Future



Dr. Mahdy Al-Jazzaf

Progress-to-date

With the active assistance provided by provincial governors, proposal from 350 small and medium enterprise (SME) projects were received by the task force established by KGL for possible funding. Of these projects, 179 projects have been short listed as potentially viable projects. KGL team further developed presentation materials including business plans and funding requirements for 20 of the potentially viable projects.

It is now ripe time for the financial institutions to step in and consider investing in these projects which can be implemented inside Iraq with the help and security provided by the provincial governors.

The Delivery Mechanism

On the one hand, there many bankable projects that can create business opportunities inside Iraq and job creation for hundreds and possibly thousands of Iraqis. On the other hand, there are many public and private, and local and international stakeholders that are interested in funding these projects.

The problem is mainly three fold:

  • First, investors in particular international ones, do not have a foot step inside Iraq to oversee their investment portfolio.
  • Second, the local Iraqi project initiators do not have the technical and administrative capacity to present their projects to international investors. Most of them do not even know what products and services they can ask seek from international stakeholders.
  • Third, there are many stakeholders: OPIC, IFC, local and foreign banks, individual Iraqi investors, Iraqi local and federal government, other government organizations that would also like to help.

Under such circumstances, there is a need to develop an effective delivery mechanism that can

  • provide technical assistance to project initiators and guide them on how best to present their projects to various funding agencies inside and outside Iraq,
  • take stock of the products and services that governmental and non-governmental agencies can provide to project initiators and harmonize delivery mechanisms to ensure comprehensiveness and complementarity,
  • Ensure proper procedures and controls are in place to safeguard investor’s interest.

Such functions shall be mandated to a new entity to be established for such purposes with appropriate capacity to carry out these functions. We are currently in the process of finalizing the fundamentals of this concept with participation of a renown international entities.