Economic Growth

Amid all the uncertainties of modern Iraq there is one immutable constant: when summer arrives temperatures in Baghdad soar to more than 120º F and stay there for several months. This seasonal reality is especially discomforting for motorists mired in traffic. Today, however, comfort levels are rising as thousands of Baghdadis trade in their old clunkers for late model air conditioned cars. This burst of conspicuous consumption results, in part, from improved security, an economy growing at 12.6 percent a year, and increased credit and bank financing provided through private commercial banks working with the USAID-Tijara Provincial Economic Growth Program.

Some Baghdadis worried about increased traffic when they saw all the new cars.

In 1999, Ari Hishyar Sedeq Hassan moved to Germany where he worked in a bakery in the small town of Gronau, producing Black Forest Rye Bread, cinnamon buns and Kaiser Rolls. Thirteen years later, Ari decided to return home to Dahuk in northern Iraq. “The economy and security have improved so much here, there really was no reason to remain in Europe,” he explains, adding: “On the flight back from Germany I was one of 23 Iraqis permanently returning home on the plane.”

Ari arrived in Dahuk with the idea of integrating a working bakery into a western-style super market. In North America this pairing is well established with studies showing the smell of freshly baked bread inspires people to buy food items.

  (Iraq Business News, 02/23/2012)

The Iraqi Company for Bank Guarantees (ICBG) is a privately-owned non-banking financial institution that guarantees repayment of up to 75% of loans, ranging from $5,000 up to $250,000, that private commercial banks extend to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Iraq. Early this year, the company reached a significant milestone when it surpassed $50 million of loan guarantees on loans disbursed to SMEs.

$50 million may not seem like a lot of money in big financial circles. But for the 4,000 entrepreneurs who have started or expanded their businesses thanks to timely, guarantee-assisted bank financing, $50 million has made all the difference for success.

Back in 2006, when the U.S.

Technical assistance and a grant from the USAID Iraq Financial Development Project enabled three Iraqi universities and their business and economics schools to apply for membership of the prestigious Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International).
 

In December 2011, the AACSB International granted member-ship approval for the Iraqi universities. The recipient universities include Baghdad University, Al Mustansiryia University, and Al Mansour University College, attended by several thousands of young Iraqi students.
Following a comprehensive evaluation of their current programs in finance and business, the three Iraqi universities were admitted as the newest members of the AACSB.