Iraq and its investment outlook came under the spotlight today at the fifth International Islamic Finance Forum in Dubai as financial and legal experts underscored the country's increasing competition for investment. The three-day forum, under the patronage of His Highness General Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and the United Arab Emirates Minister of Defence, is being attended by about 400 senior executives from the multi-billion dollar Islamic finance sector in 40 countries.
In a session surrounding the Baghdad bourse, the global director of Dow Jones Islamic Indexes, Mr Rushdi Siddiqui said that Iraq is now competing with Eastern Europe, South and Central America, Asia, China and sub-Saharan Africa for foreign investment. "I believe the fundamentals exist for the creation of institutions for capital market integration, but the story is not getting out," he said. He estimated investment wealth in the Middle East at $2 trillion. Muslim exchanges accounted for $156 billion in Saudi Arabia, $61 billion in Kuwait and $42 billion in the UAE, he added.
Ms Maria-Gabriella Khoury, head of research at Atlas Investment Group in Jordan, estimated Iraq's real GDP growth at 45 per cent for 2004 and 25 per cent for 2005. "Iraq is rich in resources, but is held back by sanctions," she said. The former Baghdad Stock Exchange, now renamed the Iraq Stock Exchange, has 114 companies listed in just four sectors, with government ownership in most of them. The Iraq Stock Exchange plans to start trading in the coming month, when most companies listed before will be relisted, while an interim depository will function until an Iraqi as one is established.
Source: IIFF
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