10.3  |  Reconstruction: oil, commercial interests, debt relief, asylum and stabilisation policy

790.  Lord Mandelson’s Principal Private Secretary replied on 16 January 2009,

reporting that:

• A new Iraqi Commercial Officer would start work in the British Embassy

Baghdad later that month.

• An international business specialist would deploy to Iraq on 24 January.

He would support UK companies, scope opportunities for UK companies and

make recommendations on UKTI’s future footprint in Iraq by the end of March

2009. There would be no gap in commercial representation in Iraq.

• UKTI was recruiting an industry secondee to assist the International Business

Specialist.

• The British Embassy Baghdad had just recruited a USAID employee into its

vacant Commercial Assistant post.478

791.  The international business specialist arrived in Baghdad at the end of January.479

He was joined by a second UKTI-funded consultant on 12 February.480

792.  Lord Mandelson visited Iraq on 6 April, at the head of a delegation of 23 companies

(the largest official business delegation for over 20 years).481 The steering brief prepared

for Lord Mandelson identified a number of objectives including:

• underlining the UK’s commitment to building a new broad-based, long-

term partnership with Iraq, with a strong emphasis on economic and trade

co‑operation;

• countering Iraqi complaints (from Prime Minister Maliki and others) about the

lack of interest from UK business, while assisting the business delegation to

build contacts with Iraqi Ministers and members of the Iraqi business community;

and

• supporting UK companies pursuing business in Iraq.

793.  The steering brief also advised:

“Interest [in the visit] in Iraq has been surprisingly high – perhaps underlining that

the time is right for a big push in our commercial relations.

“Iraqis trust British companies and products. But Iraqi politicians feel that [the] UK

has been slow off the mark in terms of exploiting opportunities in the country, and

there is a view (perhaps unfair) that we are lagging behind competitors from the rest

of Europe, China, Russia and Japan.”

478 Letter Abel to Catsaras, 16 January 2009, [untitled].

479 Report DFID, 1 February 2009, ‘Weekly update: 1st February 2009’.

480 Report DFID, 15 February 2009, ‘Weekly update: 15th February 2009’.

481 Paper BERR, [undated], ‘Visit of the Rt Hon Lord Mandelson to Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Abu Dhabi

and Dubai, 5-8 April 2009’.

491