Iraqi-British conference to encourage oil investment

BASRA / IraqiNews.com – The Iraqi-British Business Council and the Iraqi Businessmen Union – Basra Branch, have held a 2-day Investment Conference to encourage investment in the oil field, attended by officials in the oil sector in Basra and a number of private companies, specialized in oil and gas, as well as members of the local administration in the Province.   “The main motive of this activity is to strengthen the relationship between the industrial companies and the Businessmen Union, in the field of oil and gas,” the Acting Chairman of the Iraqi Businessmen Union, Sabih al-Hashimy told IraqiNews.com news agency.   Hashimy said that “the said conference was held through direct cooperation with the British Oil Companies, represented by Lord-Lady Ima Nixon, in charge of several charity institutions, including the so-called “Ammar Institution.”   “We consider this conference as being part of a policy, aimed at waging pressure on both local and central governments, in order to change the state’s policy towards enabling those specialized companies to invest in the fields of oil and gas,” Hashimy added.   On his part, the Official in-charge for the Energy Committee in Basra Provincial Council, Farid Khalid Ali, told IraqiNews.com: “investment in the oil and gas sectors in Basra is very important and useful, and involves large dimensions concerning those companies, as well as the Basra citizens, due to the fact that those companies would begin their first large step in the field of investment.”   The Chairman of the Rehabilitation & Development in Basra Provincial Council, Engineer Mustapha Attiya Rissan, on his part said: “this conference is the second conference, attended by British companies, taking place after the economic and political developments in the Arab World and the Middle East in general.”   “ Iraq has become the best Arab environment, enjoying security stability and being a stable economic power, with a political system, despite it is being young, but it has proved to be the best system in the Region,” Rissan said.   Rissan also said that the “political and economic transformations in Basra has changed it into a good investment center, inviting investors and businessmen from the Western World.” FT / SKH   – 796