Iraq: Land of Opportunity?

July 25, 2006 — -- For those all too used to the daily roll call of death and destruction in Iraq, a series of TV ads airing this week will come as some surprise.

"The Other Iraq" advertisements are part of an extensive PR campaign by Kurdish officials in northern Iraq to reshape Americans' perception of their region.

The first ad is a montage of Kurdish residents saying "Thank you" to America for bringing democracy to the country. A second invites investors to "come see what's happening in the other Iraq."

The Kurdish region has enjoyed relative peace, secularism and security in a country increasingly torn by sectarian violence. Iraqi Kurdistan has operated as an effectively autonomous region since the end of the Gulf War in 1991, protected from Saddam Hussein's aggression by the U.S.-patrolled "no-fly zone."

Kurdish officials said they are keen to protect their fledgling democracy by maintaining an open economy, and their TV campaign comes barely a week after Kurdistan announced liberal new foreign investment laws.

The advertisements were "piloted" last November, but officials hope fresh airings will drive viewers to the campaign's Web site, where potential investors can learn more about "one of the greatest opportunities in the entire world."

The Web site emphasizes that contrary to general perceptions about Iraq, Kurdistan has more to offer than merely oil. One documentary on the site emphasizes Kurdistan's agricultural output, stating that "canning, juice extraction, tomato drying, meat processing and packaging" are all industries "with prospects for a substantial export market."

Some experts believe, however, that the campaign presents an overly optimistic picture. Peter Zeinhart, a senior analyst for the private intelligence firm Stratfor, said that although Kurdistan is going through "a golden age," its business potential is not equally glittering.

Zeinhart said the core problem for any business investing in Kurdistan is, "How are you going to get there?" Three of the four supply routes into the region pass through Syria, Iran and war-torn southern Iraq.

He said the only viable route passes through Turkey -- a country not well disposed to Kurdistan because of an ongoing conflict with its own Kurdish minority. Only last week, Turkish security forces threatened to cross the border into northern Iraq to track Kurdish guerillas they accuse of killing several soldiers.

The Kurdish campaign's representative in America, Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, played down the tensions with Turkey today, saying that the largest foreign investment in Iraqi Kurdistan comes from the "many" Turkish companies already operating there.

Nonetheless, Zeinhart reckoned that the supply line problems could put off "about 99 percent" of potential investors. But he said he sympathizes with the Kurds trying to draw investment into their region.

"The sad thing is that they're not even in the middle of nowhere," Zeinhart said. "If they were in the middle of nowhere, they'd be in better shape. They're in the middle of a lot of crap."