Iraq’s Prime Minister and many of his most senior colleagues will address a top-level international business conference being held in Baghdad later this week.

Organised by the Iraq Britain Business Council (IBBC) together with Iraq’s National Investment Commission and the Federation of Iraqi Chambers of Commerce, the event will also be attended by senior executives from leading companies in both the UK and the Middle East Region.

Dr Al Abadi is expected to highlight the dynamic relationship between Iraq and UK business and will call for more investment from British firms to help the nation to continue its rapid development.

The PM will be joined on Wednesday 29th April  by  Deputy Prime Minister Dr Shaways  and the ministers of Oil, Agriculture, and Planning. The Minister of Higher Education and former Deputy PM, Dr Hussain Al Shahristani, will also speak on the second day of the conference on Thursday 30th April.

The event, being held at the Babylon Hotel on the banks of Baghdad’s Tigris River, will also be attended by the UK’s Ambassador to Iraq, Frank Baker OBE, and the IBBC’s Founder and Executive Chairman, Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne.

Dr Sami Al Araji, the Chairman of the National Investment Commission, and Jaafar Al Hamdani, President of Federation of Iraqi Chambers of Commerce, will both address the conference.

Business leaders, such as Shell Iraq’s Country Chairman, Hans Nijkamp and BP Deputy Country Manager, Zaid Elyaseri, will also speak at the event.

Baroness Nicholson, who is also the UK’s official Trade Envoy to Iraq, is delighted at the amount of attention the event has generated both within Iraq and in the wider Middle East.

“The IBBC regularly holds big events both in London and here in Iraq, but this week’s is something really special. The National Investment Commission and the Chambers of Commerce have pulled out all the stops and worked terribly hard to bring us an incredible line up of political and business talent,” she said.

“Giving the challenging security situation in some parts of Iraq, I am frequently asked why international commerce and industry would be interested in such events. The reality of course is that for much of this nation, it is business as usual, and what business there is,” added the Baroness.

“This is a nation rich in both natural resources and the skills of its people. The place is full of opportunity. Just ask our 62 IBBC members – multi-nationals such as Shell, BP, Standard Chartered, Ernst & Young, Weir Group, Eversheds, Control Risks, and Olive Group. They are doing fantastically well and I want other big UK firms to come and take a slice of the action.”