Posted on 04/17/2003 8:04:58 PM PDT by DeaconBenjamin
Turkey, which says it lost $30bn (£19bn) in trade with Iraq after the 1991 Gulf war, is preparing to compete for a substantial share in the business of rebuilding Iraq.
The foreign ministry said yesterday it had appointed Ahmet Okcu, a senior diplomat, to co-ordinate government and private sector lobbying efforts.
Nihat Ozdemir, head of the Turkish Contractors' Union, said he would be pleased if Turkey could secure 20 per cent of the reconstruction contracts, which could be worth as much as $100bn.
Tusiad, the Turkish business association, is sending a mission to Washington next month to "warm up bilateral relations".
Relations between the two allies have cooled after parliament's failure to approve the deployment of US troops from Turkey for a second front against Iraq.
However, Mark Parris, the previous US ambassador to Turkey who is now active in Turkish-American business contacts, said: "The world will be Turkey's oyster as far as reconstruction contracts in Iraq are concerned."
"Turkish companies are right next door, they have the experience, and they built a lot the things that now need rebuilding," said Mr Parris, who is chairman of Friends of Turkey and works for Baker Donaldson, a US law firm.
He added that in spite of last month's troop debacle, there was "no predisposition" in Washington to exclude Turkish companies. Much of the business will ultimately be awarded by Iraqi or multilateral organisations.
But as a first step, analysts say that Turkey stands a good chance of obtaining subcontracting work in a $600m contract to be awarded soon by the US Agency for International Development for the rebuilding of Iraqi infrastructure.
The two finalists for this contract are US construction companies Parsons and Bechtel, which has a close relationship with Enka, a construction company that has been active in both the Middle East and the former Soviet Union.
The business of rebuilding Iraq may be a shot in the arm for an economy burdened in recent weeks by worries about the sustainability of a $100bn public sector debt.
As business confidence grows and tourism is boosted by the end of the war, all-important bond yields yesterday fell from 61 per cent to 59 per cent.
Longer-term progress depends on the government's continued adherence to a stabilisation programme backed by the International Monetary Fund, which is expected tomorrow to approve a $700m loan.
* Polish companies are clamouring for Iraqi reconstruction work amid hopes their country will be given a privileged position for its strong support of the war, John Reed reports from Warsaw.
Polish authorities are poring over a list of interested companies, which they plan to use in talks with US officials leading the effort.
"As of today, close to 500 companies have contacted us," Marek Kloczko, secretary-general of Poland's National Economic Chamber, said yesterday.
Poland built factories, highways and other infrastructure in Iraq during the communist era.
Officials hope this know-how will boost their companies' chances of winning subcontracting work for bigger US and British companies.
Poland is also seeking repayment of the $564m in bilateral debt it says it is owed by Iraq, possibly through oil sales or equity in privatised Iraqi companies.
Poland is cementing economic ties with the US even as it prepares to join the European Union, with whose leaders it signed an accession treaty yesterday.
Tomorrow Polish and US officials are expected to sign an "offset" agreement pledging US investment worth more than $6bn in Poland as compensation for Warsaw's agreement to buy 46 Lockheed Martin F-16 jets last year. Warsaw's choice of F-16s irritated France, which had offered Dassault Mirage 5 fighters.
Nice!
Rebuilding is a horrible choice of words. It will be building those things which Saddam chose not to build with his loot.
Screw Turkey. Where were they a month ago? They crapped on the US and now they want a space at the federal trough?
My sentiments exactly! While Turkey may have been an ally previously, what they did in the past few months puts them in the same class as France and Germany. Screw 'em. Maybe if they aren't rewarded for their behavior, they'll think twice next time before krapping on the US and they'll be a real ally!
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