WASHINGTON, DC (CI MENA) (Update on October 10, 2017 to add interview with The Pritzker Organization Chief Executive Thomas Pritzker) — North American Western Asian Holding (NAWAH), the US infrastructure and investment fund focused on Iraq, is planning to increase its investment to build a modern container terminal in the historic port of Al Maqal in Basra to USD 25m, NAWAH chief executive Paul A. Brinkley said.
[North American Western Asian Holding (NAWAH) Chief Executive Officer Paul Brinkley speaks to Capitol Intelligence/CI MENA regarding private sector investment in Basra with Hyatt CEO Thomas Pritzker at the Center for Strategic Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC. February 2, 2014]
In an interview with Capitol Intelligence at a book launch, Brinkley said that NAWAH through its NAWAH Port Management (NPM) unit is going ahead with work to rebuild the historic part that served as an important gateway for Indian and Chinese goods traveling through than Mesopotamia and Turkey to the markets of Europe.
NAWAH, which Brinkley founded along with Hyatt Hotel Chairman Thomas Pritzker, has already invested USD 15m in the port and has begun cargo operations in the city of 2m. He said that NAWAH has partnered with Basra’s Al-Moussawi family and the General Company for Ports of Iraq to manage and operate Al Maqal.
Brinkley, who served five years as Deputy Under Secretary of Defense and was head of the Task Force for Business and Stability Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, said the Basra region is “experiencing a significant economic uplift.”
In fact, Iraqi officials and businessmen are now saying that the Basra region is now what the currently booming Iraqi Kurdistan region was about five years ago.
Gulftainer Group, the privately-held port operator owned Sharhaj, UAE based Crescent Enterprises, is currently operating in Iraq’s Umm Qasr oil and container port on the Persian gulf.
[Hyatt Hotel Corporation Chairman and The Pritzker Organization Chief Executive Thomas Pritzker speaks to Capitol Intelligence/CI MENA using CI Glass on Basra Port investment at CSIS event with US National Security Adviser Lt. Gen H.R. McMaster in Washington DC. October 10, 2017]
Brinkley said NAWAH has a dual mission of bringing private sector investment into the region and at the same time building up businesses. He said the Iraqi market, despite growing by 8 pct to 9 pct a year, is not yet ready for traditional passive investment.
He said that Iraq should be viewed as a “violent but stable country” in both economic and political terms. He says that he has no problems doing business and or traveling through Iraq, even in such hotspots as Baghdad.
Thomas Pritzker, the scion of the wealthy Pritzker family that includes current US Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, in 2008 visited Baghdad with Morgan Stanley Vice Chairman William Strong and CF Industries Holding CEO Stephen Wilson.
Brinkley spoke with Capitol Intelligence at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) for the launch of his book: War Front to Store Front.
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