Posted on 01/13/2008 3:51:24 AM PST by Daffynition
House prices on the up and increased banking business are not readily associated with Iraq. Yet as Humphrey Hawksley reports, there are entrepreneurs who see good times in the horizon.
"This is the entrance hall," said Naimah Abdul Jabbah, throwing open a huge pair of wooden double doors.
"How much?", I asked.
"$1m. Maybe some negotiation. But $1m, I reckon."
He turned to my interpreter to confirm the dollar exchange rate to the dinar, because in recent months Iraq's currency has been creeping up in value.
Business playground
Naimah, in his early 40s, is a leading Iraqi estate agent.
He took over the business from his father and talks of the glory days of the 1980s when Iraq dreamt of becoming a business centre and a playground of the Middle East.
He now sees a glimpse of the good times coming back again.
We were in a large detached house in a fashionable Baghdad suburb, standing under a dust-caked chandelier and next to floor-to-ceiling windows with the top half blocked out in case of a rocket attack or bombing.
"Since the drop in violence," I asked "how much have prices gone up?"
Dubai prices
"10%-12%."
He reached for his ringing mobile phone and switched to Arabic.
"I'm with some people now, but I can make it at 1300," he said, fixing up his next meeting.
Then, he picked up where we left off, "I'm told our prices are reaching those in Dubai."
"But they don't get bombed in Dubai."
"I know," he said amid peels of laughter.
"But Iraq, it's a beautiful place. Many people want to be here."
The Baghdad Stock Exchange (Picture: Courtesy of Bhasker Solanki) Financial services are beginning to prosper.
Just over a year ago, President George W Bush confounded his Iraq war critics by sending more troops to the country, instead of withdrawing them as much of America was demanding.
The plan is called the "surge" and in the past few months, its impact is being felt.
US and newly-trained Iraqi troops go into neighbourhoods, drive out insurgents, stay there, win round the local people and begin development programmes.
It is not all working. Bombers slip through.
There are daily killings. This is a country still very much at war.
But amid it, many Iraqis have a new spring in their step.
[snip]
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/07/19/MNGFE7NSET1.DTL
Eight minutes into the trading session, the company’s share price had nearly doubled in value, from 26 dinars — about 2 cents — to 45 dinars. Brokers crowded around the board and scrawled notices to sell, sending the price plummeting four minutes later to 26 dinars.
For Ali, it was the moment to jump back in. Sweat pouring from his face, he called a client. Above the din of the trading floor, he yelled into his cell phone: “A lot of dealers have sold. This stock’s going to go way up!” Indeed, within minutes, the stock began to climb again.
...
Buy low, sell high, buy low again, Ali smarter than most investors that panic and sell when everybody else does, should do well.
FRWN?
Good to hear, considering we’re spending the equivalent of 25 years of salary for every man, woman, and child over there!!
Other than Dubai, Iraq probably has the freest market in the middle east.
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