The senior adviser on the US-led Iraqi reconstruction team has announced that Babel is ready to receive foreign investment after the military helped to rebuild a training institute in the province.

In a statement obtained by Aswat Al-Iraq, the unnamed official said that the Al-Iskandariya training centre had been rehabilitated in cooperation with the US Army Corps of Engineers.

"The centre is essential for the efforts to bring foreign investments into Babel province, as it currently has the ability to train 4000 persons," he said, adding that prior to this it could only process 30 students.

Al-Iskandariya is located around 55km north of Babel's capital city Hilla, which in turn lies around 100km south of Baghdad.

Global Security reports that the city plays a key strategic role in rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure by providing public services jobs and training for the local workforce.

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