IBBC hosts UK’s Middle East Minister at AGM dinner in House of Lords

Baroness Nicholson hosted a well-attended IBBC AGM dinner with The UK Government Under-Secretary for the Middle East Mr Hamish Falconer MP and former Foreign Secretary Mr James Cleverly MP and Dr Ahmed Khalil deputy Iraqi Ambassador, as speakers.

Mr Falconer offered a wide-ranging discussion on the long-term relationship between the UK and Iraq.   This relationship having recently been affirmed by the recent visit of Prime Minister Al Sudani to London and the signing of a £12bn Trade agreement between the UK & Iraq, which offers substantial opportunity to the British Private Sector.  Mr Falconer continued by re-affirming the change to the UK’s travel advice for Iraq and thanked the IBBC for their long-standing work on this issue.

Mr Cleverly enjoyed meeting members and said he has warm memories of working in Iraq and as foreign minister. In his time as foreign secretary he was impressed by Iraq and its people, the relationship between the Uk and Iraq is different to what he had imagined, and he had misconstrued the nature of the relationship and the ties that bind us. Now is a good time to forge a new positive emphasis.

Dr Ahmed Khalil, Deputy Iraqi Ambassador delivered a detailed speech calling for stronger engagement between Britain and Iraq, while highlighting recent achievements and the recent trade deal. He spoke warmly about the UK relationship but wanted the Government to push harder to increase the inter-country trading opportunities.

The evening was sponsored by Samma Hammurabi Law Firm and Mr Mohammed Al Saadi who also welcomed guests to the evening.

Earlier IBBC held its AGM and reported that membership is stable, with potentially new UK corporates joining, a testament to Iraq’s stability.  The council has grown its footprint in Iraq, to include a new Erbil office to complement Baghdad and Basra. Iraq is undertaking significant infrastructure, construction, and modernisation projects that members are engaged with. New IBBC initiatives include development of a Maritime sector and academy, Agritech and Media, and a report on ‘Ease of doing business in iraq’ . IBBC held a record volume of events in Iraq. UK and UAE and we look forward to IBBC’s Baghdad conference ‘Delivering Innovation’ on February 17th with top Iraqi ministers, following a large London reception in January as part of Prime Minister Sudani’s visit to Britain.