BAGHDAD, 20 April 2004 — Iraqi businessmen seeking a slice of billions of dollars in US reconstruction money gathered here yesterday amid muttered complaints of delays, job losses and security problems.
The United States has pledged $18.4 billion for reconstruction, more than one third of the $55 billion that the World Bank estimates will be necessary to get Iraq back on its feet.
Primary contracts have gone largely to US companies and their allies, leaving Iraqi companies to pick up sub-contracting work as foreign workers leave the country because of the security situation. Hundreds of Iraqi contractors gathered for the “networking” event at the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) headquarters in Baghdad, with a mixture of disappointment and optimism over the country’s economic future.
Even among the contractors — among those most likely to gain directly from the reconstruction cash — there were concerns over the process. “An invader cannot be a builder,” said Majed Jassim, commercial manager of trading and construction company Heet Co. “Already one year has passed and we have seen nothing. Still there are delays and we’re facing problems.”