Jordan Times
Monday, April 26, 2004
Opportunities for subcontractors in Iraq
AMMAN (JT) — Senior officials from the Iraq
Programme Management Office (PMO) of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA)
opened a one-day subcontractors workshop at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Amman on
Sunday.
Called the “CPA Iraq PMO Workshop,” the event in Amman is one of several being
conducted by the PMO and prime contractors around the world, including in Dubai,
Rome, Istanbul, Sydney, Singapore, Madrid and Seoul.
The subcontractor workshop in Amman had the widest participation of prime
contractors of any such event in the world.
The PMO manages the $18.4 billion allocated by the US Congress to support the
reconstruction of Iraqi infrastructure and is responsible for all activities
associated with programme, project asset, construction and financial management
of that portion of the reconstruction effort undertaken by the United States.
The results-oriented workshop provided a venue for networking and face-to-face
interaction between PMO administrators and prime contractors on one hand, and
businesses seeking opportunities for subcontracts on the other.
During breakout sessions — with simultaneous Arabic and English translation —
potential subcontractors got a better understanding of sector-specific plans and
requirements for subcontracts presented by prime contractors in the following
sectors: Public works and water; transportation/communications; security/justice;buildings/education/health;
electrical services and the oil sector.
Potential subcontractors also learned the process and protocol for doing
business in Iraq with PMO and prime contracting firms within a business culture
context.
Sunday's event was organised by JABA, the American Chamber of Commerce in
Jordan, in cooperation with the US Commercial Service and the Iraq Development
Centre at the US embassy in Amman with support from the USAID-funded AMIR
Programme.
It included senior representatives from prime contracting firms as well as
leading Iraqi businesses and representatives from Jordanian, regional and
international businesses seeking subcontracting opportunities.
Companies such as Bechtel, Washington Group International, Lucent, Perini,
Kellogg Brown and Root, Parsons Water Infrastructure Inc., Parsons Energy and
Chemicals Group, Bearing Point, Parsons-Brinkerhoff, and many others were
represented at the workshop.