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Article: Conditioned by concerns of security; as Baghdad develops democratic institutions, the risk-to-reward ratio is weighted heavily against contractors.(Iraq)
- Article from:
- MEED Middle East Economic Digest
- Article date:
- February 11, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 MEED Middle East Economic Digest. All Rights Reserved. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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What a difference a year can make. Just 12 months ago, international contractors were lining up to bid for $5,000 million worth of contracts under the auspices of the Iraq Infrastructure Reconstruction Programme (IIRP). Today, it's a different story. Much of the promised funding--from both the US and donor nations--has been held back or reallocated, while the security situation means few international companies are willing to risk their staff in an environment that resembles a war zone. Any work that is taking place is both slow and expensive--with security provision often amounting to about 30 per cent of the total project cost.
With so many contractors ...