Jordan Times
Monday, January 12, 2004
Local firm wins Iraq rebuilding subcontract
By Ruba Saqr
AMMAN — A local company has recently won one of the subcontracts in the ongoing scheme of rebuilding Iraq, US officials affiliated with the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq (CPA) revealed late Saturday.Chairman of the Iraq Reconstruction Task Force William Lash told reporters that El Concorde Construction Company has won a subcontract allowing it to operate in Iraq.
Lash, also US assistant secretary of commerce, described the subcontract with El Concorde as a "good American interest to work with our partners in Jordan."
Founded in 1980 by businessman Hamed Jaber (with head offices based in the US state of Virginia), El Concorde won a subcontract with the American developer giant, Bechtel, in December to build new facilities for the Shark Dijla Water Treatment Plant, according to company sources.
The project is designed to increase the potable water supply in Baghdad by 225 million litres per day, according to Issa Shakhin, the company's business development and marketing director.
On Jan. 6, the United Stated Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded Bechtel and Parsons Corporation a new $1.8 billion contract to fund additional repairs of infrastructure facilities in Iraq.
The CPA and Bechtel do not allow subcontractors to reveal figures pertaining to the value of the bid, Shakhin said. Speaking to The Jordan Times on the sidelines of the OUTREACH 2004 exhibition, one of several activities organised by US Department of Commerce in conjunction with the Jordan American Business Association (JABA) to get companies to network on business opportunities in Iraq, Shakhin said his "100 per cent Jordanian" firm had won several subcontracts last year in the Iraq rebuilding programme.
The company had previously carried out projects in Iraq and Palestine, with the latter receiving USAID-funded construction services in the sectors of water and wastewater in 1999 and 2000.
US Ambassador Edward Ghnem told The Jordan Times and Al Rai that chances of Jordanian companies winning the "big contracts" might be slim because they are "multibillion dollar contracts."
"But no American corporation can carry out their projects without hundreds of subcontractors that speak Arabic and know Iraq and have the capabilities," Ghnem remarked.
He explained that the example of El Concorde shows that "Jordan has got that."
On the question of provisions by the CPA requiring subcontractors to partner with Iraqi firms, Ghnem said that such provisions are not obligatory in nature, but the US government does encourage such partnerships.
"We are trying to build up Iraq and we want Iraqi companies to stand up and do things," the ambassador said, adding that Iraqi companies today have "difficulties with capabilities because of the war and the past, so they need to draw outside expertise that has been in touch with the world... again which is perfect for Jordan."
El Concorde, which was the focus of a brief press conference late Saturday, is one of 20 local companies from the public and private sectors taking part in OUTREACH 2004, the largest of Iraq reconstruction conferences hosted in Amman. It brings together 300 international companies and 500 individuals from the business community, 200 of whom are Iraqis.
Asked about the poor Jordanian participation in the US-led exhibition and workshop programme, Deputy Prime Minister Mohammad Halaiqa said there were "time constraints" that limited the participation of Jordanian companies.
"Since the event is hosted in Amman I wish I had more Jordanian companies taking part in this important event... but I believe most of the Jordanian business community will come and visit... and I hope this will compensate for the limited number of the companies," Halaiqa said.
He explained that OUTREACH 2004 was the fifth conference dealing with the issue of reconstruction of Iraq in five months, adding "this shows the country's credibility with regards to the investment environment that the [Jordanian] government ensures."
OUTREACH 2004, American officials said, is designed to build business networks among participants in a "free market" fashion. The exhibition runs through Jan. 13.