The Foundations of Thi Qar

We didn’t see any sheathing or “termination”--the artform of pristinely finishing cable sections--but not being experts on cable production, we didn’t ask to see these procedures, which may have been occurring elsewhere (when we return, we’ll see how the new investment plans are looking with these procedures.) Either way, the Iraqis we spoke to were aware this was not a state of the art facility, and were keen for foreign assistance to meet international standards, as the director explained,

“We are preparing the company for investment and we have prepared separate files for investment for aluminium and cables, and we attracted many companies from many countries to invest, and an Iranian company is contracting with us on one of our production lines and bringing in raw materials. For that particular tender, an Iranian company got it and there was some international competition. But of course in the future we will look to work with the best company, from anywhere.”

Certainly, Iraq’s power demand is set to significantly increase, which is good news for the facility.

We then headed to the nearby textiles factory, located on the same large 1970s era site. This area had many machines left in dysfunction from the sanctions era, and while some of these machines were still working, others were idle because spare parts could no longer be sourced. However, the factory managers here were keen to show us new equipment from South Korea (pictured), and staff were busy making and cutting a new design for mass produced blankets. These were good quality and would not have looked out of place as bedding in any home in the Middle East or Europe.

It was hoped that the company would win a contract with the Iraqi MOD for blankets for soldiers--no talk of international competition here. But it is early days in the government’s new plans, and the key takeaway here was perseverance.

Perseverance, because the Iraqis have learned to make do and have kept these factories running through punitive sanctions, air raids (the cable factory was hit in 1991) uprisings and invasion. Social upheaval has led to inefficiencies in human resourcing--some staff have been “De-Baathified” and then rehired under “re-Baathification,” leading to over-staffing. In nearby Wasit, recent layoffs have led to protests.

But the skilled staff to operate the machines are clearly here, and the factory managers were under no illusions as to the challenges. All directors we spoke to had decades’ of experience and had introduced new equipment, but whether the govt. will be successful this time in the drive for foreign investment remains to be seen.

In the Autumn, we’ll return to the province and hopefully we’ll have more updates on some of the other industry there, as well as some oil and gas coverage on the forthcoming Nasiriyah integrated refinery project.

Special thanks go to Iraq Advisory Group who coordinated with The National Investment Commission in Iraq in support of our documentary project.