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Iraqi entrepreneurs, better salaries, and no taxes make great combo
Hat tip Instapundit. Sharply edited for brevity--read the whole thing!When Massoud Mazouri learned that the U.S.-led coalition had ousted Saddam Hussein from power on April 9, he hurried to Baghdad from his home in northern Iraq to set up an electronics business. Now the 28-year-old Kurdish merchant is selling televisions and satellite receivers at a brisk pace to gadget-starved shoppers. Itâs among the first signs that Iraqâs larger economy is coming to life. Television sets, refrigerators and boxes of satellite receivers are stacked 10 feet high on the sidewalks of Baghdadâs shopping districts. Shoppers who have waited for years to be able to spend their hoarded dollars are out in force. ââWhen I started in late April, I was receiving one container of DiStar goods per month,ââ Mazouri says. ââNow, I am getting five to six containers.ââ Each container holds about 270 television sets or 3,800 satellite receiver units. He says he is grossing $20,000 a day. ââAll the sales are done in cash.ââ Since the collapse of Saddamâs regime, police Officer Gailan Wahoudi, 31, has bought a new television, a refrigerator and an air conditioner. ââIt is a new freedom I never had before,ââ he says. Louay Rasheed, 46, director of the Ministry of Planningâs trade statistics department, says he made the equivalent of $15 a month before the war and now earns $400 a month. Hassan al-Dinwani, 53, owner of al-Yussir Trading Shops in Baghdadâs Karada neighborhood, says one of his new customers was a policeman. ââThis was a surprise to me,ââ he says. In the past, officers couldnât buy goods at his shop because their salaries were too low. Iraqi police Lt. Raad Rasheed says his salary is now the equivalent of $275 a month, up from $25 before the war. ââMy family is happy,ââ he says. ââI am also more focused on my job because I no longer have to worry about money.ââ Posted by: Dar 2003-09-26 |
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