Team of international experts leads 'Outreach 2004' Workshop program

The program combines an international exhibition at the AIMS (Amman International Motor Show) facility with a multi-faceted series of workshops, both components addressing the rebuilding of the Iraqi economy and the reconstruction of that country's infrastructure. Workshops are set for the Grand Hyatt Hotel.

Scheduled keynote speaker is David Nash (RAdm., US Navy ret), director of the Iraq Infrastructure Reconstruction Office (IIRO) in Baghdad. He heads the overall program to revitalize the Iraqi economy and put the industrial and commercial community back on its feet. Joining Admiral Nash are luminaries in the world of finance including Ms. Carole Brookins, North American director of the World Bank and Ms. April Foley, vice president of the Export-Import Bank. Both women make their offices in Washington, D.C. The private industry sector is represented by leaders such as Victor Boraks, president of Consolidated Oil Services, Warsaw, Poland; Thomas Crum, chief operating officer, Kellogg-Brown & Root, Middle East Region, and Remy Stachowiak of U.S. Filter Corporation.

Other notable contributors to the Workshop Program include Col. Tony Bell, Director of Contracting for the Coalition Provisional Authority; Ayaz Shaikh, Esq, of the law firm Pillsbury Winthrop in New York and Ross Connelly, Executive Vice President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).

Representing U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Donald Evans at the Amman conference is Assistant Secretary of Commerce William H.Lash III.

Timed to follow the series of instructional sessions at the Grand Hyatt Hotel each afternoon, the exhibition will highlight the products and services of more than 250 firms. Major delegations are coming from the United States, The Netherlands, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Spain, Australia and Switzerland. Individual exhibitors are also drawn from the U.A.E., Egypt, Lebanon, France, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Kuwait. A number of Iraqi firms are also represented in the exhibition which, like the Workshops runs through January 11-13.