"I sense, however, with this visit this week, we are poised for a reversal of that trend," said Lionel Johnson, vice president for Middle East at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
U.S. exports of mainly farm goods, drilling and telecommunications equipment to Iraq are on the rise this year and could total about $2.5 billion, the highest since the United States invaded the country in 2003.
But that is still small compared to U.S. exports to Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates, which will exceed $12 billion in both markets this year.
U.S. companies, worried about security and financial risk, have largely stayed away from doing business in Iraq. But there are some signs that could be changing.
A report prepared by Dunia Frontier Consultants, based in Washington and Dubai, estimated that U.S. companies accounted for just 1.7 percent of non-energy-related foreign commercial activity in Iraq in 2010, but preliminary estimates for 2011 show the U.S. share of foreign commercial activity in Iraq has risen to 11.6 percent, or $8.085 billion, Dunia said.
That includes Lockheed Martin's sale of F-16 fighter aircraft, an expected Boeing deal to sell 45 civilian airplance and contracts signed by Hill International and one of its subsidiaries to provide housing construction management services, Dunia said.
The same report estimated overall foreign commercialactivity could double the 2010 figure of $42.7 billion.
(Source: Reuters)
Comments are closed.