Romanian Ambassador visits Habbaniya to look at investment opportunities

[Sara Johnson]

Romanian Ambassador visits Habbaniya to look at investment opportunitiesMonday,

March 28th 2011 3:49 PM

Anbar, March 28 (AKnews) - The Romanian Ambassador to Iraq visited the

touristic city of Habbaniya, 150 km northwest of Baghdad, on Monday alongside

the leader of Iraq’s parliamentary Tourism and Antiquities Commission, to look

at investment opportunities there.

Ambassador Jacob Prada told AKnews that Habbaniya’s natural beauty and position

on a vast lake provide great scope for investment for Romanian companies.

“The Romanian companies are seeking to invest in this region due to Iraq’s

boom in the tourism sector,” he said, “… investment opportunities were

discussed and contracts will be signed over the coming weeks.”

Iraqi deputy Talal al-Zobaie told our reporters that the existing tourist

complex that was mainly built in the 1970s will greatly benefit from Romanian

investment, which will he said, “…place it in the ranks of developed tourist

resorts”.

“We see local and foreign investment as the way forward,” he continued,

expressing his desire to see the city being “a magnet in Iraq and the Middle

East”.

The resort’s manager Hamid Abboud Trad told AKnews that the delegation

conducted a through tour of the complex and inspected the renovation work to

date.

“The Romanian Ambassador welcomed the idea of investing in the tourist city

and promised that the companies will start discussing and signing contracts

soon”.

“The most important benefit of the Romanian delegation is that it will train

the local labor force to work in the tourism sector, because they (currently)

lack such skills.”

Reported by Ali al-Qaisi

Rn/Ka/AKnews

http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/2/227945/