Leads, Financing Available for Iraq Contracts While big multinational corporations have snapped up almost all the early contracts for reconstruction in Iraq, there will be many opportunities for smaller firms to serve as subcontractors, according to U.S. officials involved in the rebuilding effort. The U.S. Export-Import Bank and the Small Business Administration have established programs to provide financing for companies bidding for work. At an Aug. 25 conference in Washington sponsored by Equity International, the officials acknowledged that bullets and bombs are still the biggest obstacles to business in Iraq. They used mild terms such as “fluid” and “evolving” to describe the security situation. In fact, the country remains so dangerous that the State Department has warned Americans not to go there. Federal agencies and contractors are working to resolve the many business issues that threaten the reconstruction effort – mundane matters such as risk insurance (simply not available, some business executives say) and working capital loans. Here are some key sources of information about business opportunities in Iraq: •The Commerce Department has prepared a Quick Glance Chart showing contracts already awarded: http://www.export.gov/iraq/contracts/index.html#chart. •Commerce has established an Iraq Reconstruction Task Force to serve as a clearinghouse for information about doing business in Iraq, said Jay Brandes, the task force director. Its website, at www.export.gov/iraq, provides a comprehensive business guide. •www.cpa-iraq.org/commercial/index.html is the website of the Coalition Provisional Authority, the U.S.-led organization that is running Iraq. The site lists RFPs issued by the Authority. Revitalizing Iraq’s more than 200 state-owned enterprises is key to restoring the nation’s economy, said Merriam Mashatt, a trade adviser to the CPA. She said those enterprises, in industries from oil to bicycle parts, are Iraq’s major employers. In addition, she said, the authority is working to build a database of Iraqi small businesses and establish relationships between those businesses and U.S. firms. •Outstanding U.S. government RFPs are posted at www.usaid.gov/iraq/activities.html for USAID contracts and www.hq.usace.army.mil/cepa/iraq/contracts.htm for Defense Department contracts. Both AID and Defense have been criticized for awarding contracts on a sole-source or limited-bid basis. Although they have promised to open future contracts to competition, the restricted bidding continues. AID issued an RFP Aug. 27 for an economic recovery contract, and limited bidding to just 10 large companies. •SBA’s Office of International Trade, at www.sba.gov/oit, can provide guarantees for working capital loans up to $1 million, said Deborah Conrad, senior international credit manager. •The Export-Import Bank, www.exim.gov, also provides guarantees for working capital loans. The bank is starting with small projects, including small firms working as subcontractors, said David Chavern, its deputy general counsel. The bank’s board has given preliminary approval for a proposed $500 million facility that would provide short-term export insurance to cover transactions with the new Trade Bank of Iraq. A group of international banks headed by J.P. Morgan Chase has been chosen to manage the Iraqi bank. As soon as the bank is up and running, the Eximbank will guarantee letters of credit issued by the Trade Bank to “help to jump-start the flow of trade,” Chavern said.