February 23 2011
Iraq beckons with opportunities
Indian businessmen have started exploring Iraq for business opportunities. But the greatest hurdle that prevents an influx of Indian workers to Iraq is the security issue.
As Iraq, devastated by the US-led assault, followed by long years of sectarian fighting and violence degenerating into a civil war, limps back to normalcy and reconstruction activity gathers pace, a lot of business and employment opportunities are opening up.
Indian businessmen have started exploring the region for business opportunities, and the smaller ones are gingerly feeling their way around the place, sniffing out economic opportunities.
In both Karbala and Najaf, new hotels and restaurants are coming up, and skilled labour is required to manage these. Hotel Zum Zum is a three-star hotel in Najaf, about 100 km from Baghdad, and its owner is desperate to get hotel management graduates and other staff such as waiters to man the hotel.
Tourist facilities in Iraq don’t come cheap; anyway, apart from religious tourism which is booming in the twin cities of Najaf and Karbala which house the shrines of Imam Ali (Najaf) and his sons Hussein and Abbas (Karbala), Iraq has not much tourism to speak about. So this hotel, where a room costs upward of $250, is occupied mainly by the elite who come for pilgrimage or businessmen.
Bangladeshis arrive early
As in many European countries where Bangladeshis are the earliest to arrive, through legal or illegal channels, in Iraq too, one can find Bangladeshi labour almost everywhere. Working as waiters, porters, building workers, sweepers, and so on, they get paid around $300-350.
Hakim and Shoaib are two young men working in the hotel I stayed in as helpers. Each of them has given about $2500 to their agent back home to land this job and nearly $75 a month from their monthly pay will go to the agent for some time. “As we get accommodation and food, we save most of the money to send back home to our families,” says Hakim, a smiling, friendly person, who has picked up a smattering of Hindi as many Indians stay in this hotel.
But the owner of the more posh Zum Zum Hotel is willing to pay upward of $600-700 to get semi-skilled, but trained people to work in his hotel. But apparently, the Iraq government and business establishments here are saying ‘No’ to Bangladeshis and are keen to get workers from India to man their establishments.
What about Iraqis, I ask Mohsin, who owns a small shop filled with exquisite crockery from the UK, Japan and cheaper stuff from China.
“Oh no, they don’t have much education and years of free food from the government has made them lazy. But Indians, we know, are very hardworking.”
Security, an issue
But the greatest hurdle that prevents an influx of Indian workers to Iraq is the security issue. Baghdad, in particular, one is told, is the most dangerous place to live in or run a business from. Most of the offices, both government and private, open around 7.30 a.m. and down their shutters by 2.30 p.m. It is considered advisable to be secure in your homes by 3 p.m.
When I raise the security question, Jameel (name changed on request), an Indian businessman, who came to Iraq looking for business opportunities 18 months ago and has settled down in Najaf, says both Karbala and Najaf, where there is not only a high, but efficient, degree of security in place to guard the priceless shrines from attacks, are absolutely safe.
“I supply different kinds of pipes to various oil refineries in Najaf, Kurdistan and Basra; business is rocking and profits are good, and have never faced any problem.” He commutes to Baghdad at least three-four times a month.
He has taken on an Iraqi partner, “not because it is compulsory, as in Dubai, but convenient… one thing is the language, I am only picking up Arabic now. But the other thing is dealing with government departments.”
Corruption galore
With long years of experience in supplying material to government departments in India, he is conversant with the art of bribing; “without bribes nothing moves in government, and even private establishments in India, and we’ve learnt to cope with that. But nothing compares to the colossal bribes we have to pay here to get our tenders passed.”
But businessmen like him are not complaining “because the usool (principle) of bribe is that the more you corrupt, the higher the profits”.
Most people I talk to on corruption nod their heads, smile and say this is bound to stay for some time. “For long years only Saddam and his family were making money. All the other politicians were poor in both body and mind. So, now, they are making up for lost time and opportunities, says Hyder, another businessman in Najaf, adding a sentence which is startlingly close to the Indian context.
“Everywhere in the world it is the same old story; one set of people in power make money, and they are thrown out for corruption, and another set comes in to do the same!”
But much more than corruption, he is worried about the laziness and lack of skills and training among the Iraqi youth. Here too the story is so close to our MNREGA scheme, which many complain, is making the labour class lazy and unproductive.
In Saddam’s era, salaries were quite low but 13 essentials items in every family’s requirement, such as rice, flour, cooking oil, soap and shampoo, detergent, etc were given entirely free to the Iraqi people. Apparently, the Iraq government recently tried to discontinue this scheme but met with a near-revolt. In a country where job opportunities are rare, or not suitable for the uneducated and unskilled Iraqis, a sudden cut-off of their monthly ration can spell disaster and trigger the possibility of food riots.
Considering the ugly mood among the youth in the entire Arab world against their rulers, this is not something that the Iraqi government would like to grapple with at the moment. So the free monthly supply scheme stays.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...?homepage=true
related ~ In Baghdad, for a fast buck ... India and Iraq ...
Iraq beckons with opportunities
Indian businessmen have started exploring Iraq for business opportunities. But the greatest hurdle that prevents an influx of Indian workers to Iraq is the security issue.
As Iraq, devastated by the US-led assault, followed by long years of sectarian fighting and violence degenerating into a civil war, limps back to normalcy and reconstruction activity gathers pace, a lot of business and employment opportunities are opening up.
Indian businessmen have started exploring the region for business opportunities, and the smaller ones are gingerly feeling their way around the place, sniffing out economic opportunities.
In both Karbala and Najaf, new hotels and restaurants are coming up, and skilled labour is required to manage these. Hotel Zum Zum is a three-star hotel in Najaf, about 100 km from Baghdad, and its owner is desperate to get hotel management graduates and other staff such as waiters to man the hotel.
Tourist facilities in Iraq don’t come cheap; anyway, apart from religious tourism which is booming in the twin cities of Najaf and Karbala which house the shrines of Imam Ali (Najaf) and his sons Hussein and Abbas (Karbala), Iraq has not much tourism to speak about. So this hotel, where a room costs upward of $250, is occupied mainly by the elite who come for pilgrimage or businessmen.
Bangladeshis arrive early
As in many European countries where Bangladeshis are the earliest to arrive, through legal or illegal channels, in Iraq too, one can find Bangladeshi labour almost everywhere. Working as waiters, porters, building workers, sweepers, and so on, they get paid around $300-350.
Hakim and Shoaib are two young men working in the hotel I stayed in as helpers. Each of them has given about $2500 to their agent back home to land this job and nearly $75 a month from their monthly pay will go to the agent for some time. “As we get accommodation and food, we save most of the money to send back home to our families,” says Hakim, a smiling, friendly person, who has picked up a smattering of Hindi as many Indians stay in this hotel.
But the owner of the more posh Zum Zum Hotel is willing to pay upward of $600-700 to get semi-skilled, but trained people to work in his hotel. But apparently, the Iraq government and business establishments here are saying ‘No’ to Bangladeshis and are keen to get workers from India to man their establishments.
What about Iraqis, I ask Mohsin, who owns a small shop filled with exquisite crockery from the UK, Japan and cheaper stuff from China.
“Oh no, they don’t have much education and years of free food from the government has made them lazy. But Indians, we know, are very hardworking.”
Security, an issue
But the greatest hurdle that prevents an influx of Indian workers to Iraq is the security issue. Baghdad, in particular, one is told, is the most dangerous place to live in or run a business from. Most of the offices, both government and private, open around 7.30 a.m. and down their shutters by 2.30 p.m. It is considered advisable to be secure in your homes by 3 p.m.
When I raise the security question, Jameel (name changed on request), an Indian businessman, who came to Iraq looking for business opportunities 18 months ago and has settled down in Najaf, says both Karbala and Najaf, where there is not only a high, but efficient, degree of security in place to guard the priceless shrines from attacks, are absolutely safe.
“I supply different kinds of pipes to various oil refineries in Najaf, Kurdistan and Basra; business is rocking and profits are good, and have never faced any problem.” He commutes to Baghdad at least three-four times a month.
He has taken on an Iraqi partner, “not because it is compulsory, as in Dubai, but convenient… one thing is the language, I am only picking up Arabic now. But the other thing is dealing with government departments.”
Corruption galore
With long years of experience in supplying material to government departments in India, he is conversant with the art of bribing; “without bribes nothing moves in government, and even private establishments in India, and we’ve learnt to cope with that. But nothing compares to the colossal bribes we have to pay here to get our tenders passed.”
But businessmen like him are not complaining “because the usool (principle) of bribe is that the more you corrupt, the higher the profits”.
Most people I talk to on corruption nod their heads, smile and say this is bound to stay for some time. “For long years only Saddam and his family were making money. All the other politicians were poor in both body and mind. So, now, they are making up for lost time and opportunities, says Hyder, another businessman in Najaf, adding a sentence which is startlingly close to the Indian context.
“Everywhere in the world it is the same old story; one set of people in power make money, and they are thrown out for corruption, and another set comes in to do the same!”
But much more than corruption, he is worried about the laziness and lack of skills and training among the Iraqi youth. Here too the story is so close to our MNREGA scheme, which many complain, is making the labour class lazy and unproductive.
In Saddam’s era, salaries were quite low but 13 essentials items in every family’s requirement, such as rice, flour, cooking oil, soap and shampoo, detergent, etc were given entirely free to the Iraqi people. Apparently, the Iraq government recently tried to discontinue this scheme but met with a near-revolt. In a country where job opportunities are rare, or not suitable for the uneducated and unskilled Iraqis, a sudden cut-off of their monthly ration can spell disaster and trigger the possibility of food riots.
Considering the ugly mood among the youth in the entire Arab world against their rulers, this is not something that the Iraqi government would like to grapple with at the moment. So the free monthly supply scheme stays.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...?homepage=true
related ~ In Baghdad, for a fast buck ... India and Iraq ...
