Iraq state leather firm “needs more investment”
According to the central bank of Iraq, the country’s industrial sector contributes only 2% to its gross domestic product, Reuters has reported. In an effort to revive the sector, the government has pumped $2 billion over the past three years into some of its 260 factories, owned by 76 firms.
“Most of our factories were losers,” said Adel Karim, a deputy minister of industry and minerals. “Now we have eight companies which are profitable and by the end of the year we hope to reach 20.”
According to Mr Karim, one of the biggest problems facing the ministry is overstaffing at factories. Due to centralised economic policies established in the past, the government is Iraq’s largest employer and has difficulty letting workers go, leaving state-run firms overstaffed.
Iraq’s General Company for Leather Industry needs only 2,400 of its 4,170 staff. According to assistant general director Saadi al-Maliki, the leathergoods firm is struggling to get back on its feet.
“We need investment, we need state funding, we need to train our staff and we need to protect the local products,” said Mr Maliki.
Mr Maliki said the company supplies most of its leather shoes, bags and jackets to Iraq’s interior and defence ministries, with only 5% reaching the local market. He said Iraqis tended to prefer fashionable Chinese or Turkish shoes and clothes rather than locally produced goods.
