Iraq Holds First Business Convention Since 2003
Organizers Report Most Popular Items Are ‘Hello! My Name is Mohammed’ Name Tags and ‘Kill Me, I’m American’ Buttons
For the first time since coalition forces moved in to liberate the country in 2003, Iraq held it’s first business convention. According to CNBC, “about 260 vendors — almost all Iraqi — set up booths on the ground floor of the Green Zone’s al-Rashid Hotel” to peddle their wares.
Tens of visitors poured into the hotel to see the exhibits, risk being blown to bits and ogle women in burkhas showing off the latest in gadgets for the home and business.
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Despite progress, subtle differences remain between the American and the Iraqi approach to trade shows…
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Ali B. Seenyu, CEO of the Iraqi-American Chamber of Commerce, said he hoped the show would help expand membership in his organization.
“Right now, there’s only three of us,” he noted ruefully. “We wanted to show that there is normal life in Iraq, to help foreign investors see and feel that it is safe to come.”
“Bedalla sha inshallah dar ham,” chimed in one vendor, which loosely translated means, “Good luck with that.”
Organizers were, however, able to point to some success stories. Attendance was brisk at the Kevlar siding pavilion leading some economists to predict a general economic upswing could be spurred by home improvement spending.
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