Business development centers in Iraq are taking the first steps to better serve their business community by providing regular news and advertising opportunities.
Editors, journalists, designers and advertisers from Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) in the cities of Najaf, Zaqoora and Samawa recently received training [7] on strategic communications and marketing from internationally known media consultants and journalists. The trainings aim to build capacity for Iraqi media to engage in audience research and develop an advertising sub-sector to diversify revenue and enhance media independence. The training also provided skills in graphic design and photography. Trainers included:
• Hiwa Osman, former media advisor for President Talabani;
• Kamaran Najim, founder and director of Metrography [8], the largest photo agency in Iraq;
• Halkawt Ghaleb, former manager of Al-Deera TV in Dubai;
• Haidar Mohammad Khadim and Zainab A. Wahid of the Iraq Yellow Pages [9].
This training is in conjunction with performance grants the SBDCs received from USAID-Tijara to expand their business publications and to increase sales. The trainings are a part of IREX’s Media and Civil Society for Transparent Governance (MCSTG) [10] program, which is funded by the US Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.