CLDP and the Iraqi Ministry of Trade (MoT) held a three-day workshop for future trainers of Iraqi commercial attachés. The program was led by Dr. Naufel Al-Hassan, Iraqi Commercial Attaché to the United States; Christian Reed, US Commercial Counselor in Baghdad; and Dr. Roberto Rios, a CLDP international trade expert. The Chief Advisor to the Minister of Trade, Mr. Khathum Al-Hasany, opened the workshop by highlighting the MoT’s “full support” to this joint effort between the ministry, CLDP and the US Embassy in Baghdad to conduct a multi-phase program to train Iraq's commercial attaché trainers.

Workshop participants included senior university professors and former commercial attachés who had been deployed to posts around the world, providing a broad perspective during the workshop. Through several case exercises, participants gained substantive knowledge about international business negotiations, trade promotion, and dispute resolution while also learning effective techniques for educating future commercial attachés. At the conclusion of the workshop, participants expressed the need for additional training on negotiation techniques, best practices in contract drafting and tools for accessing critical economic and commercial data to support their work. Some of these issues will be addressed in the second phase of the program, to be held in Washington, DC in September. This phase will include participation in a US trade show, in-depth negotiation exercises, and visits to trade and investment promotion-related institutions.