Sunday, October 01, 2006
Al-Anbar merchants - safer to trade with Syria than Baghdad
Commerce, Security, Region
Fear of abductions and attacks on commercial convoys has prompted merchants in Iraq’s western Anbar province to divert their trade routes from Baghdad to Syria. The decision to deal directly with Syrian goods and products came after several drivers from the Anbar province were found killed along the highways to Baghdad. Their trucks hauling produce and other commodities had been looted and burned. Iraqi policemen who patrol the highways say they are unable to challenge the armed gangs and militias that operate near the towns such as Ramadi and Falluja that lie between much of Anbar province and Baghdad. The police say they are lack communications for use in emergencies and do not have enough weapons.
Many drivers say that the risk of being caught by ''death squads'' is now too high for them to venture near Baghdad. As a result, rather than sending goods to and from the Iraqi capital, an impromptu trading bloc has instead developed between Anbar province and neighbouring Syria.
Goods including vegetables, fruits, kitchen wares, water tanks and pipes, cement for construction projects and filters, flow into Iraq, while dates and other Iraqi fruit from the Iraqi towns of Qaim and Rudba are exported into Syria. The Iraqi traders say they expect trade across the Syrian Al-Walid border post to increase over the coming months, pointing out that the booming Anbar-Syria trade suits both sides. The Iraqi merchants, they say, by operating largely with the knowledge of the government can avoid taxes and duties, while the Syrians see Al-Anbar as a valuable new market for their goods.
Goods including vegetables, fruits, kitchen wares, water tanks and pipes, cement for construction projects and filters, flow into Iraq, while dates and other Iraqi fruit from the Iraqi towns of Qaim and Rudba are exported into Syria. The Iraqi traders say they expect trade across the Syrian Al-Walid border post to increase over the coming months, pointing out that the booming Anbar-Syria trade suits both sides. The Iraqi merchants, they say, by operating largely with the knowledge of the government can avoid taxes and duties, while the Syrians see Al-Anbar as a valuable new market for their goods.
COMMENT: The routes from Baghdad to towns in al-Anbar have been dangerous for a long time, with Baghdad drivers charging extortionate fees to travel west or turning down jobs altogether due to the dangers involved. While this initiative may well open lucrative trade options between the two countries, it is only a matter of time before militants and criminals start attacking the new route. COMMENT ENDS.
