Herding cows from Brisbane to Baghdad is not your typical business plan. Yet that's the journey scores of cattle would take if Australia's GRM International clinches a contract it's seeking in Iraq.
The livestock exporter opened an office in the Iraqi capital this month, hoping to coax Iraqi administration officials, aid agencies and entrepreneurs into resuming imports of beef and live sheep cut off by the 1991 Gulf War.
"It's really early days. We just want to get in there and see what's going on and see what the opportunities are," said Kim Bredhauer, managing director of Brisbane-based GRM. "As things settle down, we hope to have a few people in there."
The rebuilding of the country, left a wreck by the war to topple President Saddam Hussein, is sparking a rush for contracts by small companies offering products and services from livestock to armed escorts, drills and Internet hookups. As the European and Asian economies continue to slow, the reconstruction of Iraq offers a rare business opportunity.
"People see a pot of gold," said Mark Mobius, managing director of Templeton Asset Management Ltd, which has US$7.5 billion in global assets. "They know from experience that whenever there's war and upheaval, there's money to be made, and contracts that are very generous."
The US Congress has approved US$2.4 billion for reconstruction and relief in Iraq, said Luke Zahner, who is a press officer at USAID. About US$1.7 billion of that is slated for reconstruction over a 12-month to 18-month period. That means rebuilding and upgrading roads, bridges, schools and hospitals.
"Everything related to major infrastructure goes through Bechtel," said Zahner, referring to Bechtel Group Inc, the US government's lead contractor for Iraqi reconstruction. "We are using companies and not-for-profits to implement our programs."
Most of the work is expected to be farmed out to subcontractors. A roadshow by Bechtel last month devoted to Iraqi reconstruction projects drew thousands of executives to Washington, London and Kuwait City. Bechtel has been awarded US$174 million so far for Iraq's reconstruction, part of a package of as much as US$680 million that the company may receive over 18 months.
Bechtel expects to use mostly domestic suppliers and workers rather than turn to foreign companies to fulfill terms of its accord, said Cliff Munn, the company's program director for Iraq.
That hasn't deterred companies outside Iraq from seeking to get some of the business. In Washington, 2,000 people turned up at a venue with a capacity of 900.
In London, almost as many crowded into a conference hall the size of a soccer field to hear Bechtel's procurement manager Tom Elkins. With a microphone clipped to his shirt, he explained in a southern drawl that the average tender was "for $1 million each" and that "if you want to be in a place to participate in this program, that place needs to be in Iraq, and with Iraqis."
Some participants said they find the challenge daunting.
"There's going to be a stampede," said Trevor Burton, a manager at UK surveying and mapping company BKS, after the conference.
"The do-you-or-don't-you factor is the risk," he said.
Others hoped for even tiny contracts. Essex-based Peter Wilson of Carter Horsley (Tyres) Ltd said he'd be "quite happy with anything between US$15,000 and upwards" in Iraq.
Seminars featuring power-point presentations and giant screens are being held from Helsinki to Kuwait City, demonstrating the pros, and some cons, of doing business in Iraq.
Finnish export promotion agency Finpro's conference last month on Iraqi reconstruction in Helsinki drew 120 companies, partly out of history: Baghdad landmarks including the cultural palace were designed or built by Finns. Companies such as construction company YIT Oyj and elevator maker Kone Oyj have done business in Iraq.
"What they're looking for is to be prepared when the work is not donor-financed, and when Iraqis can use their money for normal business," said Tero Lausala, Finpro's manager for project advisory services.
Washington-based Equity International, which has staged regular post-conflict parleys since organizing one on Bosnia in 1996, turned 250 people away from last month's business conference. Six hundred attended. Another conference is scheduled early next month.
"It's the biggest rebuilding initiative since the end of World War II," said President William Loiry. "And unlike in places like Afghanistan, after reconstruction is complete, you've got economic development of a major nation which can be in large part self-funded because of huge oil reserves."
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