Non-American firms received oblique pledges this week, but few concrete assurances, that they will get a crack at lucrative bids to rebuild Iraq.
Post-war reconstruction contracts for Iraq totalling US$1.9 billion will go to American firms by law, but half of the rebuilding work will be open to subcontractors, the administrator of the US Agency for International Reconstruction, Andrew Natsios, said on Wednesday.
But while many companies in Europe and around the world reconcile themselves to the fact that they will be entitled to subcontracts only, the French government and others called for a total overhaul of the rebuilding efforts.
France, which clashed with Britain and the US when it vehemently objected to the action in Iraq, is calling for the UN to play the key role rather than the US.
"The UN must be at the heart of the reconstruction and administration of Iraq," French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said in London on Thursday.
"The United Nations must be in the driving seat," Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said in Athens.
Non-American firms are not expecting such proposals to overturn American efforts, but neither are they banking on earning millions rebuilding Iraq's roads, schools, ports and hospitals.
Officials on both sides of the Atlantic acknowledge that British companies will be first in line for subcontracting work, given the country's status as the US' staunchest ally in the war with Iraq.
"We have had extensive discussions [with British companies] and there is no doubt that some of the American funds will go to British subcontractors," Natsios said.
"I don't know if Iraq will be a source of work for Balfour Beatty. We have plenty of good contacts, and if it comes up we will look at it," said Tim Sharp, a spokesman for the British construction and engineering firm.
So it is not clear who is going to get the money -- winners of USAID contracts for the US$2.4 billion in USAID reconstruction and humanitarian aid will be announced by the end of the month -- although there are some indications.
On March 10, before the first shot in the war was even fired, USAID invited five American engineering companies to submit bids for a reconstruction contract.
The winning firm would get about US$900 million to repair Iraqi roads, bridges and water treatment and power plants.
Bidders including Bechtel Group Inc and Fluor Corp confirmed they had received the contracts. The Wall Street Journal reported that invitations also went out to Parsons Corp, Louis Berger Group Inc and Kellogg Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton Co, which was once headed by US Vice President Dick Cheney.
On Monday, USAID gave Steve-doring Services of America (SSA) a US$4.8 million contract to manage the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr, before British or American troops had taken control of the town.
British firms are emerging as contenders, however. Britain's Crown Agents, a procurement agency with operations around the world, is already working on purchasing activities in the Gulf region for USAID's Iraqi Initiatives as a subcontractor.
Several British firms tipped to be involved include construction and engineering firms Balfour Beatty Plc, Carillion Plc and AMEC Plc.
But while British companies can count on some American goodwill, many European firms will have to overcome a short but bitter legacy.
"I am quite sure that the Americans will try hard to reserve this kind of business for themselves," said Rudolf Rupprecht, chief executive of German trucks and industrial group MAN.
"The rebuilding situation will depend on the development in the relationship between the United States and Europe," he said.
Relations between Europe and the US soured when countries including France and Germany opposed the US-led military strike on Iraq.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique