Ghorfa summit calls for Iraq debt remission

Addressing the participants of the high-profile annual gathering of German and Arab Business people in Berlin, the President of the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce Ludwig Georg Braun said the Iraqi people had suffered terribly under the 12 year UN embargo and under the wars. Therefore, Iraq must be given a chance for a new beginning similar to Germany after World War II.

He suggested that creditor states should agree a remission of the debts in a concerted action. This would help to overcome the widespread mistrust of the population towards the victorious military coalition.

Recently, the G8 countries had merely conceded that Iraq must not pay interest on their debts of around $100 billion up to the end of 2004. Iraq owes Germany around $4 billion.

The Business Forum in Berlin, organised by Ghorfa, the Arab-German Association for Trade & Industry, was held early in June 2003 in its sixth consecutive year, bringing together 600 top business people, high-ranking government officials, technicians, lawyers and other consultants. Out of the 600 participants, 200 had travelled to Berlin from Arab countries.

The Patron of the Forum, Economics Minister Wolfgang Clement, advised that Germany so far had contributed EUR 50 million to humanitarian aid plus EUR 75 million within the framework of the Oil for Food programme since the end of the war in Iraq. Messrs Braun and Clement both made it clear that a reconstruction in Iraq was not feasible without an unrestricted involvement of the European Union and its largest economy, i.e. Germany.

Even if the first large contracts were awarded to US companies, German industry had already resumed their activities in the country, which has had an excellent history of ties with Germany, going back many decades prior to the rule of Saddam Hussein.

According to Peter Göpfert, MD of the German-Arab Trade Chamber, German companies were also sounding out opportunities to win sub-contracts via their partners in Egypt, Jordan and other countries neighbouring Iraq. The demand for German products in the private sector of Iraq was very high, indeed, he pointed out.

This observation was confirmed by Günter Rexrodt, the President of Ghorfa, and Helene Rang, Director of the Near & Middle East Association who said that the standing of Germany in the region had risen dramatically, even if 'Made in Germany' was appreciated for a long time before. German business had now to live up to great Arab hopes and expectations.

German exports to the Arab countries last year rose by 5 % to EUR15 billion whereas imports increased to EUR6 billion in the same period. Against this positive background, mutual direct investments are disappointing. According to Günter Rexrodt, they did not exceed EUR 1.2 billion last year on each side.

The participants in the Forum very much welcomed the call of Mr. Abdulrahman Al Jeraisy, Chairman of the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, for greater efforts to overcome the continuing imbalance of trade between the Arab countries and Germany. For the Arabs, a greater diversification of their exports and a strengthening of the private sector were essential. They must not seal off their economies from the world, but meet the challenges with confidence, he said.

Earlier, the German Economics Minister had pledged that his Government would work for a continuous moving together of the Arab world and the European Union. Several German speakers were confident that the year 2005 would see an Association Agreement between the GCC countries and the EU.