Tuesday 08th February
Japanese business mission visits Baghdad
BAGHDAD — A Japanese mission consisting of corporate and government representatives visited Baghdad on Monday, meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other leaders to seek investment opportunities in Iraq such as infrastructure building projects, Japanese government officials said.
Al-Maliki expressed his hope that Japanese companies will play the most prominent role in the development of the Nasiriyah oil field in southern Iraq, the officials said. Negotiations for the oil field development between Iraq and a Japanese consortium were effectively suspended in January 2010, prior to the Iraqi national parliamentary election in March the same year.
The Iraqi side also requested Japanese companies’ greater involvement in electricity and other development areas, the officials said.
The dispatch of the business mission is intended to follow up on a trip to Iraq by former Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Akihiro Ohata in January. Ohata now serves as transport minister.
During his visit, Ohata met with Deputy Prime Minister Hussain Al-Shahristani and requested for the resumption of talks over the Nasiriyah oil field development. The two countries also discussed strengthening Japan’s support for the reconstruction of Iraq, such as starting a feasibility study on the construction of a large-scale power station in Iraq.
The mission is headed by Mitsuo Sakaba, ambassador in charge of reconstruction assistance to Iraq and is joined by board members and other senior executives of 10 Japanese companies, including trading houses Mitsubishi Corp, Marubeni Corp, Itochu Corp, Sumitomo Corp and Mitsui & Co, as well the government-linked Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Japan External Trade Organization.
Sakaba handed to Al-Maliki a personal letter from Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, the office of the Iraqi prime minister said.
Japan last dispatched a similar business mission to the war-torn Iraq in March 2009 in its first public-private delegation of its kind to the country.
http://www.japantoday.com/category/business/view/japan-dispatches-business-mission-to-iraq
