Al-Dahash, H F K; Mohammed, R K; Al-Rubaye, M and Hardman, M (2024) Comprehensive evaluation of the foreign direct investment (fdi) opportunities in Iraq: The karbala cement manufacturing company as a case study. International Journal of Construction Management, 24(6), pp. 573-585. ISSN 1562-3599
Abstract
This paper explores the benefits of foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Karbala Cement Manufacturing Company (KCMC) as a case study. The benefits of FDI by the French company LAFARGE were measured by conducting a comparison before and after investment. To do so, information held in archival records and documents before and after the LAFARGE investment were reviewed, analysed and triangulated with the secondary literature. The findings show a remarkable growth in production after the rehabilitation of the first and second production lines following the LAFARGE investment, together with a significant decrease in costs, with KCMC benefitting from economies of scale. In addition, sales increased notably, with a considerable increase in the areas of market location, plus three new types of cement and a ready mixed concrete were added to the product portfolio to strengthen market position. This research contributes to the literature published on the benefits of investment into companies in developing countries such as Iraq. The practical contribution of this study is the increased awareness of the potential improvement of not only the cement industry in Iraq, but the lessening of oil dependency for the country, and the potential increased revenues for the government.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | cement; foreign direct investment; Iraq; privatization |
| Index terms: | ready mixed concrete, privatization, foreign direct investment, case study, documents, revenue, developing country |
| Subjects: | data collection methods, materials science, economic analysis, development economics, professional development |
| Topics: | International Construction, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Information Management, Engineering Principles |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here