Microsoft To Train , 30 000 Iraqi Teachers

AMMAN, Jordan: Microsoft Corp. on Thursday said it was launching a project to train 30,000 teachers in computer technology within a year in war-ravaged Iraq.

Nizar Zakka, the U.S.-based company's representative in Iraq, said the program, which began one month ago, had already trained 600 Iraqi teachers who will use their skills to "transfer the knowledge to students of Iraq who deserve the best education they can get."

Despite security concerns, Microsoft has been working in several areas in Iraq including Basra and Baghdad, said Zakka in the Jordanian capital, Amman.

"Physical security is important but at the same time business security is as important, and you have to approach the two things at the same time," Zakka said.

The Microsoft project is sponsored by a U.S. Agency for International Development program in Iraq, said Zakka, who declined to talk about the funding of the project, including how much it would cost.

The US$1 billion (€0.77 billion) USAID-Izdihar, which means prospering in Arabic, was launched in September 2004 in Iraq to help improve the private sector there. The program has assisted the Iraqi government in drafting World Trade Organization-compliant legislation on customs, intellectual property rights and technical barriers to trade, said Baljit Vohar, Izdihar's Baghdad chief.