Iraq Reconstruction Project Opportunities Seminar

Remarks by Chargé d'Affaires John Medeiros
Raffles City Convention Center

May 3, 2004

I would like to say a word of thanks to the staff at IE Singapore and to my colleagues in the Foreign Commercial Service at the U.S. Embassy, for their excellent work in pulling together this seminar on short notice. The number of people here in the room is testimony to their success.

What is this seminar all about? It is not about war, or politics. It is about new life. It is about rebuilding, reconstruction, and a new future for a country that has had 20-plus years of stagnation, repression and war. It is about nations working together to provide new beginnings for the people of a country who have suffered too much, and who need a friend.

The reconstruction of Iraq is a project that is moving forward, behind the headlines of conflict that we see every day. Iraq is a large country, and Fajullah and Najaf, which are so much in the headlines, are only two medium-sized cities. In the rest of the country, a great deal of positive work is moving forward, and the reconstruction effort is gathering momentum, with 8 billion dollars allocated thus far for projects in Iraq, and 42 projects already underway on the ground, with contracts totalling 1.42 billion dollars.

Who are the people you will hear today? A bit of background: Last year, the U.S. Congress appropriated $18 billion dollars for the reconstruction of Iraqi infrastructure. As a country, we made a commitment to the Iraqi people – to help them restore and improve the infrastructure services required for a modern nation.

What this tells us is that this is a huge effort that is only beginning. As this vast project gets under way, contracting will accelerate. And of course, it will continue well after the reversion of sovereignty to an Iraqi government later this year.

The Program Management Office (or PMO) is the office, now under the Provisional Authority, that manages this effort. In broadest terms, this office is responsible for all of the activities associated with that portion of the reconstruction effort undertaken by the U.S. The office uses only a small nucleus of U.S. government employees, along with representation from Iraq and other nations. Most of the real work is done by several levels of private-sector contractors. At the top level, prime contractors have been hired to provide program management services. Below them, specific contracting companies are working in several specific construction sectors. These include oil, electricity, public works and water, security and justice, transportation and communications, and finally buildings, education and health. The prime contractors are seeking subcontractors to provide goods and services as inputs to the reconstruction process.

Of the $18.4 billion appropriated, it is expected that $12.6 billion will be spent on construction. Rebuilding infrastructure requires far more than construction, so an additional $5.8 billion is expected to be spent on acquiring equipment, supplies and material -- computers are needed to monitor and control electrical and water systems, vehicles are needed to transport materials, uniforms and supplies are needed for the police and civil defense corps, school supplies are needed for education, etc. etc.

In awarding all these subcontracts, the prime contractors have financial incentives to use businesses from Coalition Partner and force contributing nations. And that is why they are here in Singapore today – to see what goods and services they can buy from Singapore and other partners and force contributing nations in Southeast Asia. I will let the representatives of the PMO and companies themselves describe their individual work in the separate sectors. They are here to look for business partners. YOU are here because you are interested in partnering with them. I hope that from today’s session can emerge concrete cooperative relationships that last a very long time.

Thank you