Prometheus 6

U.S. Market Seen for Iraqi-Made Clothes
By STEPHEN FARRELL

BAGHDAD, Aug. 12 — Iraqi and American officials think Iraq’s ailing economy could get a kick-start from American consumers interested in giving Iraqi-made clothes as Christmas presents.

“We are hoping if everything goes well, by Thanksgiving and Christmas we will have from the Mosul factory teenage clothing, and from the Najaf factory ready-made suits, and from the leather industries here, leather jackets, and so on,” Sami Al-Araji, the deputy industry minister, said Sunday during the announcement of a plan to put state industries back to work.

Mr. Al-Araji said an American team led by Paul A. Brinkley, the deputy under secretary of defense for business transformation in Iraq, was in discussions with major American retailers like Sears and Wal-Mart to have the clothing on sale in a limited number of major cities by the holiday season.

The first move into American markets would be mainly symbolic, he said, involving 10,000 to 12,000 leather jackets, 20,000 to 25,000 suits priced around $80 to $90, and a similar number of garments for teenagers.

“We could go higher, but we thought we would start modestly,” he added.