The scramble for contracts

Polish firms could play a part in the rebuilding process in Iraq, acting as subcontractors and suppliers for American companies. Several hundred companies have already declared their readiness
to cooperate

The US Senate and House of Representatives have decided to assign USD 2.5 bln to USAID (the US Agency for International Development), which will utilize these funds in the reconstruction of Iraqi infrastructure and re-establishment of public services, schools and hospitals. The general contractors will come from the USA, but they will be looking to employ sub-contractors from countries which supported the war against Saddam Hussein. It is generally believed that around 50 per cent of all contracts are to be made available to sub-contractors, and Polish companies are likely to find themselves among that number.

The proposals...
Economic organizations and companies wishing to be involved in the reconstruction of Iraq may submit their proposals to the Ministry of Economy, Labour and Social Policy, or the Polish Chamber of Commerce. According to Władysław Jerzy Wężyk, Chamber of Commerce Director for Foreign Cooperation, 220 firms, interested in contracts in Iraq, registered within the first six days. Although the applicants covered a wide spectrum of businesses, the dominant group came from large and medium construction and installation companies.
"In their applications, companies should state what type of activity they wish to engage in and what experience they've had in that part of the world. However, it isn't down to the Chamber of Commerce to decide which companies will be accepted. We will pass the applications over to the Ministry of Economy, Labour and Social Policy who will decide on any further developments."

The contracts...
The Ministry have stressed that they have no impact on whether or not firms will be granted contracts by US companies, and note that as the application process hasn't been standardized, it has taken miscellaneous forms, and has sometimes only appeared in Polish. The Ministry is meanwhile planning to convey the Polish portfolio "to the American side via a number of channels", which is a sensible approach just as long as the offers are made in English. Having said that, the Ministry didn't make the requirements clear from the start; nor did it provide a uniform sample of the document.
The list of companies is not yet complete, as both the Ministry and the Chamber of Commerce are still accepting applications, but it is firms with some experience on the Iraqi market, such as Elektromontaż-Export, who will probably leave the others standing.
"We applied to the Chamber of Commerce but, on the recommendation of the Ministry of Economy, Labour and Social Policy, we also set up a consortium together with twelve other Polish firms," says Waldemar Nader of Elektromontaz-Export. "Our joint portfolio will be forwarded to the American firms, Bechtel, Flora and Kellog, who are in charge of selecting sub-contractors for construction and electrical work in Iraq."

We'll provide electricity
Elektromontaż-Export's previous experience in the region includes the electrification of six districts in Bagdad, which the company conducted in conjunction with Siemens in the 1980's, involvement in the construction of a power plant in Mosul, a refinery in Basra and the '14th September' viaduct in Bagdad.
"We've put forward two projects and the first involves providing electricity to areas where generators have been destroyed. We're able to bring in our own generators and, by reconstructing the old power supply structure, provide electricity for about 3,500 families. We could supply many such units," says Nader. "The other project envisages connecting our transformer stations to existing high-voltage transmitting lines, which would supply electricity to eleven thousand families. As far as other forms of co-operation with the Americans in Iraq are concerned, we could supply ready equipment."

We'll re-build what we constructed
Instalexport, run by Edward Szwarc, can boast equally extensive experience. "In the applications we submitted to both the Polish Chamber of Commerce and the Ministry of Economy, Labour and Social Policy, we included data about our work experience in the Iraqi market as well as our current standing, and offered to participate in the prospective contracts. We're able to send around 300-400 people with all the necessary equipment over to Iraq."
Szwarc claims that his company could repeat their activities of a dozen or so years ago in Iraq, when they performed renovation and water purifying installation work and built brick-yards and livestock farms.
"We didn't follow the war history of our previous projects because of their great number and diverse nature but, as far as I know, the Americans spared most of the industrial installations such as oil distilleries, power plants and pipelines. Nonetheless, other objects might have been damaged."