I WAS lucky enough to attend the Chamber’s recent event on Entering Iraq which featured Baroness Nicholson - UK trade envoy and Mr Akeel Al Khalidy, owner of South Group Corporation and head of the Basrah Investment Commission.
It was of great interest to me as I lived and worked in the area for nearly 10 years – the Iraqi people have an amazing culture and I wish them the future they deserve.
The country needs inward investment to recover and to build a stable economy.
The expertise that local organisations have in the North-east of Scotland could play a significant role in that recovery.
I would encourage every organisation to consider Iraq as part of its internationalisation strategy.
The country has a bright future, but needs to overcome its internal constraints.
One of the major hurdles that organisations considering entry in Iraq have faced over the last decade is the political unrest, which is heavily reported on.
This has been compounded by the emergence and proliferation of IS (Islamic State).
In June 2014, the jihadist group overran the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, and then moved southwards towards Baghdad, routing Iraq's army and threatening to eradicate the country's many ethnic and religious minorities.
Since then, IS has lost approximately 40% of the populated territory it once held in Iraq, which reduces their impact and influence on the country as a whole.
They are largely operating in the north which means that there is a reduced threat in the southern areas focused on oil production.
We are always proponents of the philosophy that any organisation can operate in any environment, as long as it has looked at how it manages the associated risk.
In the last decade, western organisations and people operating in Iraq have not been targeted.
However, they have been caught up in the periphery of violence.
If you are considering entering Iraq then you need to look at it as a truly long term investment prospect.
What may appear to be a significantly high margin contract, may have that margin eroded if you have not considered how you are going to operate on the ground.
Think about:
Security Provision – You will need it. You can't operate in Iraq without some form of security provision. Make sure you understand whose responsibility it is to provide it – will your client provide it … or do they expect you to provide your own? This might really impact the profitability of your contract.
Primacy Risk – Often – in crisis events – when there is a contractor relationship, primacy and responsibility for dealing with security/kidnap incidents can become blurred. For example, a client was delivering drilling support to an operator in Iraq. The emergency response, evacuation and medical protocols were unclear. A security incident arose where the local, armed militia surrounded the base and shot a client contractor through indirect fire.
The contractor organisation was not notified of the security incident until late the same day, they had no emergency response protocols in place, as the injured person was from the sub-contracting company the operator did not provide medical evacuation out of country.
Road Traffic Incident (RTI) – One of the biggest threats to staff and contractors operating in Iraq is Road Traffic Incidents (RTI), due to the poor state of repair of the roads and the poor standard of driving. The condition of the vast majority of locally owned vehicles is also exceptionally poor.
The majority of accidents are due to poor road conditions and drivers’ lack of skills and road safety knowledge. Not only are driving conditions more dangerous, there is little medical emergency management infrastructure, meaning that trauma care is difficult.
Think about how you will travel safely.