Jashanmal Group, the UAE-based family-owned enterprise, is looking to expand into Iraq and has already completed a tour of the Kurdistan region to open a store in one of the newly established shopping malls.

The company, which has retail, joint ventures and distribution and wholesale divisions, is keen to re-establish a presence in Iraq, where it opened its first store in Baghdad in 1919.

“We are in many sectors and we are expanding,” says Tony Jashanmal, group director of Jashanmal.

“We have no plans to go public, we are very happy with the way we are. You need to go public if you want to expand very big, or if you are in need of money. We do not need the extra financing from others and by keeping it within the group, we have more control over it,” he says.

According to Jashanmal, the group has not been affected by the Arab uprisings.

“We are mostly in the Gulf and so have not been affected,” he says. “In fact, to a great extent there has been more money inflow to Dubai than outflow, from people who have left places such as Libya, Tunisia and Egypt.”