2009-10-26

Three days in Baghdad

Nicholas Anderson, Head of Swedish Export Credit Corporation (SEK) Advisory Services, recently visited Baghdad in order to see what financial solutions exist to promote Swedish exports to Iraq. Here he shares some impressions.

I am not a person who runs after adventure and I was worried about my own safety when travelling to Baghdad. I had decided to take on an advisory assignment to see what financial solutions exist to promote Swedish exports to Iraq. Before the strife in Iraq, the big Swedish companies have been major exporters. ABB sold power transmission systems, Scania and Volvo assembled and sold lorries and Ericsson delivered telephone networks. Today all Swedish companies have difficulties to do business there because the Iraqi banking system has been shot to pieces. My assignment is to find solutions that will help develop the banking system there over the next few years with Swedish support so that companies and ordinary people in both countries can enjoy the benefits of trade, banking and Swedish knowhow that we take for granted here in Sweden.

Arlanda airport shuts down their security checks at midnight so Hussein Kanber-agha, Swedish Iraqi consultant, and I had to be the by 23.00h to clear security and passport control to catch the 02:30h Iraqi Airways flight to Baghdad. The Iraqis love flying when the rest of the world is curled up in a warm bed! It was rather a good flight because this new Arlanda-Baghdad service has an efficient Swedish crew. We left on time and arrived on a hot sunny morning in Baghdad.

The airport was clean and we had no trouble going through passport control. It was a friendly “good morning, Sir” and a short walk to the taxi stand. Here a special taxi superintendent took our names and address just in case something happened on the way. And nothing happened except we encountered heavy traffic when driving to a friend’s home. Every few kilometers a checkpoint soldier and policeman stared in to our car and waved us on. Most of the faces smiled under their helmet. Their guns were all pointed downwards in polite deference. We arrived at the house and had a shower and some breakfast - small pizzas from a cousin’s bakery and sweet brown tea.

Refreshed, we started our visits with our driver in a small unmarked white Toyota sedan.

That Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, we visited 12 banks and several other business people. Each bank was similar to the next. Burly security men stood outside the gates and five meter high concrete slabs that surrounded the buildings. When they saw me, the white European, get out of the car they saluted and smiled. Only one of them scared me. He was on guard at a very crowded bank where there were a lot of people coming in and out. He was probably nervous, poor man.

All the banks typically have the same style banking area filled with people making payments and trying to borrow money. The staff is predominantly women who are counting thick wads of notes and filling in hand written forms. Computers have yet to be introduced widely to the banks!

In order to be careful about our own security, we had only told our banking friends that we would arrive on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. We did not have to worry about being on time on any particular day. They do not receive many visitors and the odd visitor arriving from one of those unknown European countries is a welcome reason to show off in front of the young staff. In every bank our arrival was greeted with curiosity and smiles. The managing directors and chairmen of the board in all the banks made up for their lack of computers with the number of mobile telephones that they used all the time when we were sitting in the meetings. The bigger the boss, the more calls he took in mid-sentence.

When you travel a lot in different countries, you look out for physical clues to evaluate companies and governments. I have always used the toilet test. Travelling from bank to bank means that you have to use their facilities especially when you are served black Turkish coffee and sweet tea a dozen times a day. Only three banks passed the test – most of them had unwashed, cracked and rusty facilities.

I spent the nights in the bunker of the new Swedish Embassy in Baghdad. The embassy is housed in a smart top security compound that our government has invested in to spearhead business and social development in Iraq. They have done an excellent job in providing a safe and comfortable environment for Swedes who are visiting Iraq. It is an exceptional solution when compared to the embassies of other countries. Exportrådet are setting up an office there and Sida already have people on the ground. This solution will go far in promoting Sweden’s interests in seeing economic and social development.

Over the three days there, we only saw one damaged building, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry building that had been bombed some three months ago. We learnt about three small bombings during our stay there but we saw or heard nothing. The city is huge with traffic jams and busy crowds fill the streets, restaurants, street markets and shops. Men dress in suits and women in normal coats and dresses. Baghdad is a modern busy city. If it was not for the guards, security checkpoints and army convoys, you would not have thought of the terrible violence that these people have experienced.

Travelling from one meeting to another in 35C degrees is hot work especially when many of the meeting rooms did not have any air-conditioning. Electricity blackouts happen every day. Most of the banks had their own generators. These are noisy machines that spew out diesel fumes at the back of the buildings. To cool off we stopped at open air cafes and had cool drink and grilled freshly slaughtered lamb. The small stands always want to make sure that their customers see that the meat is clean and fresh. They hang it above the charcoal fire for everyone to inspect. Their other specialty is Masgouf. This is a traditional Iraqi dish, it is an open cut carp grilled and spiced with salt, pepper and tamarind. When you see it for the first time it looks like a thick pizza. The shiny smoked surface is crispy. Its taste is delicious. After the meal we washed our hands under a tap with a gritty piece of soap.

Our visit to Baghdad coincided with a meeting of the security people from the big Swedish companies at the Embassy. A short unannounced visit is relatively safe because nobody knew about us or about our car. But when our colleges and friends are there every day to meet clients, partners and others, security is a real issue. A kidnapped person from a major company can be used to secure a ransom. Even though this practice has practically disappeared, it is important that security is taken seriously.

On the last day we finished at 19.00h and were driven to the airport by the security men of one of the banks. They used the car for transporting dollars from the airport to the banks. This is a cash society where dollar notes are used to pay for houses, cars, cloths, food and services! Our journey was slow because an American convoy of heavily armed security vehicles drove in front of us. A soldier waved a red flag if any car got too near. This was a warning to stay back or be shot at. The vehicles had thick antennas on the four corner of each car that cut the GSM network around them to prevent roadside bombs from being activated by mobile phones.

We left Baghdad on the comfortable return flight with Iraqi Airways and arrived at 04.00h the next morning in Stockholm.

Iraq has huge oil reserves, a well educated population that badly needs the basic infrastructure of a modern country. Swedish companies have a good reputation as honest and reliable suppliers. Many Iraqis have relatives living in Sweden. You can expect that many of the 100 000 Iraqis now living in Sweden will want to return to Iraq to have a decent job in the rebuilding of their country. This is the opportunity of a life time to extend another helping hand to a people that deserve something better than what they have experienced the last thirty years.

Nicholas Anderson,
Senior Vice President
Head of SEK Advisory Services
SEK - Swedish Export Credit Corporation