The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, through our U.S.-Iraq Business Council (USIBC), is leading the way in developing the commercial and investment relationship between our two nations. The USIBC is the premier organization for dialogue and active engagement between the American private sector and Iraqi government officials at the Federal and provincial levels as well as U.S. government leaders who focus on Iraq at U.S. Department of State, National Security Council, U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Development Finance Corporation, U.S. Export-Import Bank, and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and international institutions like the World Bank and International Finance Corporation.
The USIBC provides a platform to generate and implement new ideas for partnerships and business policies that impact the thinking of government and business leaders in both countries. The Council is uniquely positioned as the only business advocacy platform that maintains and works closely with the governments in Baghdad and Erbil and their missions in Washington. The USIBC advances its mission and members’ interests through an array of programs and direct engagements with Iraqi and U.S. government officials and business leaders by focusing on four key areas:
Advocacy: The USIBC leads advocacy efforts to enhance the business environment in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region by engaging officials to apply uniform and transparent procurement processes and regulations; supporting financing mechanisms; encouraging the consistent implementation of commercial regulations; trying to streamline the visa process; and, many other key policy issues.
Access: The USIBC hosts a number of events in Washington and elsewhere to bring together our members with high-level officials from Iraq, the KRG and provincial governments to discuss the issues and opportunities across Iraq. The Council also regularly convenes meetings with key U.S. government officials to influence U.S. policy.
Information: The USIBC is a consistent source of information for our members. We provide a bimonthly newsletter sharing updates on political and economic developments in Iraq as well as commercial activities and opportunities. We also coordinate members-only conference calls with Iraqi experts to better inform our members.
Trade Missions: The USIBC organizes and leads business missions to Baghdad, and other key investment destinations like Erbil and Basra, with the purpose of engaging government officials to better understand their priorities and grow our commercial relationships. The U.S. Chamber-led missions also send an important political signal to the leadership in Iraq about our continued commitment, and have the strong support of the U.S. government.
For more information on the U.S.-Iraq Business Council, please contact Council president Steve Lutes at slutes@uschamber.com and manager Anna Burress at aburress@uschamber.com.