American companies lag the competition when it comes to investing in Iraq

Make no mistake, Iraq is still a dangerous place, but as security has improved and the political climate grown more stable foreign investors are seeking deals and sinking money into Iraq while American companies largely remain on the sidelines. From USA Today:

“It’s starting to turn … and the people who are getting in on the ground floor are not American,” said Paul Brinkley, the Pentagon official who is leading U.S. efforts to help Iraq rebuild its economy. “It’s ironic.”

Foreign companies, including U.S. investors, have committed to deals worth about $500 million so far this year and Brinkley expects at least $1 billion in foreign investment by the end of the year.

So far, Romanian consortium and a Lebanese company have signed revenue-sharing deals with Iraqi state-owned cement factories. Each group will invest about $150 million.

China has also aggressively pursued the Iraqi market, selling machinery to the government and electronic products to consumers.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari, in Washington on an official visit, said Monday that larger U.S. firms were waiting for more security before entering the market.

Zebari noted that Turkish and Russian companies were already active in Iraq. “They take risks,” he told USA TODAY in an interview. “No pain, no gain.”

As the article notes, China has quickly become Iraq’s third-largest trading partner.

Hat tip to Instapundit.