Hundreds of Iraqi and foreign firms are set to take part in an international trade fair in Baghdad on December 15, the Iraqi-American chamber of commerce said Saturday.
The Destination Baghdad exhibition is intended to "allow Iraqi companies to make direct contact with foreign companies, and without intermediaries," to facilitate business deals, it said in a statement.
The trade fair, to take place under a heavy security blanket, will be the first of its kind since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in April last year.
Among the firms set to attend are US telecoms giant Motorola, engineering firm and Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root, and US firm CH2M Hill, which has notably been contracted to help rebuild Iraq's water infrastructure.
Security will be a major concern as a number of businessmen and employees of foreign firms have been kidnapped or attacked in recent months. The violence has prompted some of the companies to quit the war-torn country.