Finding Opportunities Amidst the Adversity
Posted on November 29th, 2008
Understanding the inhibition of entrepreneurs and prospective investors to go to this war-torn country, an American firm and a British company combined their resources to open the Iraqi Airways International Business Center and the Baghdad International Airport Hotel. This is to encourage private investors and corporations to Iraq.
And how could this happen? Well, the center’s pitch is this: “If Baghdad remains dangerous, bring the business meeting to the heavily guarder airport compound. If visitors need to head into Baghdad, the center can hire a private security firm to drive them. If someone needs to exercise, the hotel has a gym. If a person falls sick, it has a clinic. If a businessperson needs an interpreter, the staff can supply one.”
This is an example of a true entrepreneurial mindset: finding opportunities amidst the adversity.
Knowing that security is a primary concern, they built the hotel within the compound of the airport where military security is most existent.
The brave soul who took this risky move is Ammar Urfali, an Iraqi American whose company, Sigma is one of the partners in the project. He teamed up with a British company named Veritas and the Iraqi government. Sigma and Veritas is holding a three-year lease on the facilities and have invested $10 million. The Iraqi government is said to receive half of their profit.
“We want the international businessmen to take us as an example for them. We took the risk, so what is the point of not coming here? It is getting better and better every day,” said Urfali.
On their opening day just this Friday, a few Japanese, Ukrainian and American guests came to the hotel. This was built by the U.S. Army, and then furbished by Urfali and his fellow investors
What’s more interesting in this hotel is that most members of the hotel’s staff came from the Philippines. As you enter the hotels lobby, you will be greeted by the hotel receptionists from the Philippines.
