Tue, May 04, 2004 page12

• Asian companies scramble for Iraq contracts

  • AFP
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  Hundreds of businesses across Asia are preparing to invest in Iraq despite the dangers, US officials on a regional roadshow to promote investment in the war-torn country said here yesterday.

  Singaporean, Chinese, South Korean, Japanese and Australian investors have all shown strong interest over the past two months in grabbing a share of the US$18 billion in US government contracts on offer, they said.

  The Iraq Reconstruction Project Opportunities roadshow, comprising officials from the US government and Iraq's Coalition Provisional Authority, has also stopped in Seoul and Sydney, as well as European and Middle East nations, since the beginning of March.

  The communication and planning director with the Coalition Provisional Authority's program management office, Jonathon Thompson, said that more than 600 business people from North Asia attended the Seoul briefing.

  A further 100 businesses were represented at each of the Singapore and Sydney briefings, with Thompson reporting unanimous enthusiasm among the delegates for venturing into Iraq.

  "I have not experienced any company in all of these meetings who are reluctant to participate. They wouldn't be here if they were," Thompson said on the sidelines of the Singapore seminar.

  Ted Tan, the assistant chief executive officer at International Enterprise Singapore, the city-state's trade promotion board, also said many local firms were poised to invest in Iraq.

  "A lot of companies are really serious about going to Iraq. They are looking at working out concrete plans with the primary contractors," Tan said.

  Tan said a number of Singapore companies had already set up operations in countries neighboring Iraq and were waiting for the security risks to subside before venturing across the border.

  The director of Singaporean construction firm Wee Engineers, Liew Chee Kian, attended yesterday's seminar and said his firm hoped to set up operations in Iraq in the next six to 12 months.

  "US$18 billion is a lot of money and the country is so big," Liew said. "It's going to take many years to rebuild the country so the opportunities are definitely there."

  Asked about the dangers of working in Iraq, Liew said he did not believe it was as dangerous as made out in the world's press.

  "The media is always giving reports on the negative side. There are a lot of good sides that aren't publicized. There are a lot of areas that are quite safe," he said.

  The regional sales manager for Singapore-listed Dayen Environmental water treatment company, Ang Kwee Huat, also said his firm was keen to set up operations in Iraq but he was more circumspect about the dangers.

  "We see so many people being kidnapped and Singapore is one of the countries that supports the Americans so we could be a target too ... maybe I'd say I am from China instead," he said.

  The US officials speaking at the seminar touched on Iraq's security problems but their main focus was business, highlighting the US$18 billion the US Congress recently approved for reconstructing the country.

  "The sheer breadth of these funds will touch virtually every sector of the economy in Iraq," Thompson told the delegates, adding everything from major infrastructure projects to health care and supplying police uniforms needed foreign investors.

  "The rebuilding of Iraq, in the most basic of terms, is the single largest construction project for one country in the world's history."
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