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A group of young Iraqis has arrived in the German federal state Baden-Württemberg to prepare for a traineeship in a German company. Their Swabian hosts are excited about the prospects of reestablishing good relations for good business. When the trainees return to their companies or establish their own companies in Iraq their German contacts are going to be partners of choice

Hermann-Josef Pelgrim likes taking matters into his own hands. Standing beneath the impressive Italian fresco adorning the city hall in Schwäbisch Hall commending his city’s administration, his songs of praise are suddenly interrupted by loud music streaming in from outside. The mayor doesn’t hesitate one second. His chance to demonstrate decisiveness has come. Pelgrim steps out onto the balcony and lets out a piercing whistle over the square lined with half-timbered houses. The rehearsal for a musical on the marketplace falls silent immediately. Laughter breaks out among the 18 young guests from Iraq, a welcome relief from the strenuous orations being given by the head of the city. So this is German efficiency up front and in action.

Trailblazers

The Iraqi engineers, lawyers and chemists have been here the better part of a week. The German Federal Foreign Office, the Goethe Institut, the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce as well as the Association of German Industry have worked hand in hand to select and place the participants in German companies as part of the “Iraq Horizons 2015 – sow today, harvest tomorrow” program. The participants will attend language classes at the Goethe-Institut at Schwäbisch Hall through mid July, after which they will start their traineeship in various German companies. The whole morning the Iraqis sat together with representatives of their host companies and now the city hall is filled to the last seat for the official reception. Germans and Iraqis want to establish initial contacts today and discuss the objectives of the traineeship as well as common goals and suitable application areas.

The mayor takes more time than originally scheduled to learn from each participant what they expect from the initiative. The opportunity to host trainees from Iraq for several weeks in a German company has generated huge interest in Germany and in the region. The response of German companies to “Iraq-Horizons 2015” took Angelika Rahmer at the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce by surprise as well. “At present most of the companies that expressed interest naturally deal primarily with the rebuilding of infrastructure. Companies that are not able to get involved this time around were already asking when the program would be repeated.”

(Re) entering the market

For many of the participating companies the presence of an Iraqi trainee is the first step to (re) entering the Iraqi market. Describing the situation quite clearly, Hubert Hauber, vice-president of the air conditioning systems division at Linde AG, says, “During the war between Iran and Iraq we withdrew completely from Iraq and lost all of our contacts.” He continues, “Actually we’re already too late. The Americans are the top dogs in our business now. But we’re still hoping to be represented in the Iraqi market in one or two years. Our trainee is a chemical engineer and he comes from an established family. Maybe we can initiate some first steps in the country using his contacts.” Alexa Crone, team leader of the human resources department of the Herrenknecht AG, puts her expectations even more cautiously. “In addition to drilling large-scale tunnels, we have a division that is specialized in smaller pipelines and sewage systems. That might be interesting when it comes to reconstruction. But we don’t know yet whether we’re capable of returning to Iraq. Our trainee is supposed to work in both divisions to familiarize himself with the technology. And then we’ll see.”

Herrman-Josef Pelgrims beams as he listens to representatives of the Grötz GmbH outline their cautious plans for Iraq. The medium-sized company is based in Gaggenau – a town that like Schwäbisch Hall hosts a number of medium-sized global market leading companies. “I believe Iraq will still be too dangerous for medium-sized companies in the coming years,” says the assistant of the executive board Christian Grötz. “There are no structures in place and major organizational efforts are required to do business there. But cooperation might be possible via our trainee. The problem is that there is no access to the country apart from initiatives like Iraq-Horizons or through the organization for medium-sized companies called Midan.”

Veterans

Ari Aiwas has other concerns. He was born in Iraq and has resided in Germany for 26 years. He is the owner of T&D Pharma, a company that mainly deals with the quality-control of drug and nutrition supplements and employs 80 people in the Kurdish part of Iraq. “I want to enable my trainee to become a multiplier so that he’ll be capable of providing training in Iraq. Bringing my people to Germany for training is very difficult due to strict German visa policies.”

Heinkel GmbH from Berlin specializes in emergency power plants and considers itself a pioneer in the Iraqi market. Project-manager Hans-Udo „80 per cent of all Germans do not live in cities anyway. It is in towns such as Schwäbisch-Hall that the actual creation of value is taking place.“ Lehmann is quick to point out that his company has been working in Iraq for thirty years without interruption “We’re working with the third generation of our partner company and we can demonstrate that it’s possible to start and continue business in Iraq – even in Baghdad. Our trainee for the upcoming weeks is the grandson of the founder of the Iraqi company,” he says patting the 19-year old Usama on the back.

The student of mechatronics is full of praise for the German initiative: “Iraq is very isolated from other countries. Not only with regard to communications but especially when it comes to economic cooperation. If we can learn from German wealth of experience we’ll have a better idea about Germany and their style of working that we can leverage upon our return in Iraq. And that will help Iraq.” Yazan agrees. He’s 24 years old, a chemical engineer and he’ll be a trainee at Linde AG. “We urgently need German help in order to rebuild the country. The Iraq Horizons program will help everybody to build contacts – both us and the German companies. Besides it’s the first time people from universities in the north and south of Iraq can meet because the trainees come from all parts of the country. Tight travel restrictions in Iraq usually prevent this.”

Mayor Hermann-Josef Pelgrim is obviously enjoying the Iraqis’ enthusiasm. He is convinced that getting to know Schwäbisch Hall and exporting the notion of its business community and efficiency to Erbil or Basra is the best thing that could have happened to the trainees. “Eighty percent of the Germans don’t live in big cities. The value creation chain starts here.” And the participants have yet to experience the epitome of efficiency and problem-solving capacities: That will surely change as the Iraqi guests are scheduled to pay the public utility company a special visit.

Photos: Simon Fuchs (WPI)