1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs

Story by Spc. Mike MacLeod

RAMADI, Iraq – The Ramadi Business Center here hosted the grand opening of the first Al Anbar International Trade Fair Nov. 1 to bring together members of the local, national and international business community with representatives from Anbar's public and private sectors.

"We believe that the future of Al Anbar province depends on economic growth and investment. The Anbar International Trade Fair demonstrates to the people of Iraq and the world that Anbar province is open for business," said Paul Fitzgerald, team leader for the Al Anbar Provincial Reconstruction Team.

Key figures who spoke at the event included Gov. Qasim al-Fahadawi; Dr. Jassim al-Halbusi, chairman of the provincial council; Zaid Khalaf Hardan, general manger of the RBC; and representatives from the United States Agency for International Development and the Al Anbar PRT.

"Our province is so rich with potential. All we need is investment," said Qasim in a speech to a group of over 100 businessmen, lawmakers and other government officials to mark the opening of the trade show.

The fair attracted over 50 local, national and international firms, several private Iraqi regional banks and a number of government ministries.

Participating companies represented a range of industries, including agriculture, auto manufacturing, banking, traditional crafts, construction materials, electrical power and food processing. Products on display included locally made tiles, toilets and basins, cold storage bins, ice cream makers, Swedish generators, Turkish food processors, and more.

The participation of food-processing equipment vendors was particularly noteworthy due to the lack of local processing plants, said Linda Le, a business development advisor with the Anbar PRT.

"Iraqis really want to buy foreign goods," said Le. "They feel like the goods that they get from Iran and China are shoddily made, and so they are looking for foreign imports."

In a nod to the province's trading past, the provincial council chairman pointed out that Anbar means "warehouse," and the area was famous 1,500 years ago as a place of businesses, trading and making weapons.

"What we are doing right now is a big victory against terrorism and the enemies of our country," he said. "I am proud, so proud, to host this meeting in our Al Anbar province."

During the fair, RBC hosted several public workshops on local agriculture and economic development, among others.

USAID Representative Laura Wilkinson and Le credited the "Herculean efforts" of Zaid and Abdul Kareem, deputy manager of RBC, for making the fair a success.

The event, hosted by the RBC, was an integrated effort supported by USAID's Tijara program (a DAI grant under USAID's Iraq Rapid Assistance Program), sponsored by USAID's Inma agribusiness program, and advised and mentored by business advisors at the PRT.

The RBC is a small business development center that houses the USAID Tijara-funded Al Taqqadum micro-finance institution, offers training in governance, business start-up and development, computers, and English, and hosts events such as workshops in banking and contracting, and now the international trade fair.

The RBC plans to host the Anbar International Trade Fair annually to drive economic growth in the province, said Zaid.

Iraqi police provided the lion's share of security for the event, coordinating with 3rd Battalion, 157th Field Artillery, a U.S. Army unit attached to 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division (Advise and Assist Brigade) Task Force based at Camp Ramadi.

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