Doing Business in Iraq

Portland Press Herald

September 24, 2003

Conference to examine business in post-war Iraq

Former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger is among the speakers for the $1,500-per-person event.

Author: MATT WICKENHEISER Staff Writer

Edition: FINAL

Section: Business

Page: 5C

Article Text:

The University of Maine will co-sponsor a high-level conference in Scarborough exploring business opportunities in Iraq, with speakers including former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger.

"Doing Business in Iraq: the Private Sector," scheduled for Nov. 13 at the Black Point Inn, is targeted at business people throughout the eastern United States. The price of admission is $1,500 per person, according to Daniel Innis, dean of UMaine's College of Business, Public Policy and Health.

Innis said the conference will be the first in the Global Focus Series of talks, and will be "focused on business opportunities in Iraq and helping business people understand the short-term, medium-term and long-term opportunities that will exist in the Iraqi marketplace."

The conference is sponsored by the college of business, the William S. Cohen Center for International Policy and Commerce, and the U.S.-Iraq Business Alliance.

Innis said the idea for the conference arose six to eight months ago, when he and businessman Dennis Sokol of Bar Harbor spoke about executive development programs through the business school. Sokol, chairman of the American Hospital Group, is on the executive board of the alliance; Innis is on the board of directors.

The alliance was founded recently to be a focal point for public and private sector collaboration in the reconstruction and growth of the Iraqi economy, and to promote U.S.-Iraq trade. Membership includes about 40 Fortune 500 companies, Sokol said, with company executives who have "a sense, like most Americans, hopefully, that one of the roads to peace and democracy and balance is through the free enterprise system.

"What this really means is, we want to get on to business. Let's get this economy going over there," said Sokol, just before taking a flight to Qatar, with plans to travel to Iraq. "We've invested enough money; through the free enterprise system, let's develop some economy of scale."

Though still in development, the conference's possible subjects include investment opportunities in Iraq, developing the economic master plan for the country, infrastructure development opportunities in Iraq, privatization of the Iraqi oil sector, security, understanding the contracting process for the reconstruction of Iraq, and priority sectors for development: communications/telecommunications, agriculture and health care.

Sokol said Weinberger is confirmed as the lunch speaker. The conference will also feature members of Iraq Civilian Administrator L. Paul Bremer's staff, members of multinational corporations doing business in Iraq, and members of the U.S. Department of Defense. Sokol also hinted at a "surprise guest" who may be flown in by helicopter.

Weinberger was secretary of defense for almost seven years under President Ronald Reagan. He was also the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission in the early 1970s, and served as secretary of health, education and welfare in the mid-1970s. Late in that decade he was vice president and general counsel of the Bechtel Group of Companies, which today is one of the major corporations given government contracts to rebuild Iraq. Weinberger is chairman of Forbes Magazine, a position he took after leaving the Pentagon.

The Maine conference is the first of three to be held, said Sokol. The others are planned for Philadelphia and Chicago.

The first conference will be in Maine, he said, because, "People need to understand that the intellectual community in Maine is very high. We have great Americans that live in Maine, we have people who support our country that live in Maine.

"Maine is a state that has provided a lot of leadership in our country, going back to (Sen. Margaret) Chase-Smith and (Sen.) George Mitchell," he said.

Sokol said he was leaving Tuesday for the Middle East to meet with the Iraqi business people who would comprise the Iraqi part of the alliance. He said the alliance is "another way of letting America show what it can do to assist the people of Iraq."

"What this country needs is not a lot of charity," said Sokol. "These people are intelligent people, they're great merchants. They have been able to survive all these years in a very hard format. You can imagine, with an entrepreneurial approach to this, we're going to be able to win a lot of hearts and provide a lot of peace."

While the goal of the conference will be to educate business people about opportunities in Iraq, it will also be a perfect opportunity to draw attention to Maine, said Innis.

"My objective as the dean of the College of Business, Public Policy and Health is to get business people in the Northeast and the population in the Northeast and beyond to recognize the Maine business school and the (William S. Cohen Center for International Policy and Commerce) as forces in international business," said Innis. "A lot of times, businesses don't think beyond Boston, and this is an attempt to draw their attention a bit north."

There aren't a lot of Maine companies working in Iraq. Worldwide Language Resources Inc. of Rumford is providing interpreter services to the military and companies there, and the South Portland firms AEP Proserv and Oest Associates are exploring opportunities there.

Innis said Maine businesses aren't lining up to do work in Iraq, but he suggested that the idea isn't out of the question.

"Iraq isn't where we're active at this time, but I think it's important we look far outside our borders to those areas where there may be some significant opportunities," said Innis. "If we can help Maine businesses open their eyes to these opportunities, we've done some good."

Future conferences in UMaine's Global Focus series will include a look at Russia 10 years after the fall of the Soviet Union; the past, present and future of the North American Free Trade Agreement; and a look at untapped American-Canadian commerce.

The following appeared in a box with the article:

GLOBAL FOCUS

"Doing Business in Iraq: the Private Sector"

When: Nov. 13

Where: Black Point Inn, Scarborough

Sponsors: UMaine's College of Business, Public Policy and Health; William S. Cohen Center for International Policy and Commerce; U.S.-Iraq Business Alliance

Cost: $1,500 per person

For more information: Call UMaine's college of business at 581-1968

"Doing Business in Iraq:the Private Sector"