<

Companies Vie for `First-In' Afghanistan Rebuilding Projects
Thursday, December 20, 2001
(12:36)
By David Ward / Company

Caterpillar, the largest maker of earthmoving equipment, has dealerships in Pakistan and Turkmenistan, spokeswoman Marsha Hausser said. "We've already begun to work with our local dealer network," she said.

BOISE, Idaho -- Bloomberg.com
Washington Group International Inc. was the first U.S. construction and engineering company in Afghanistan, according to a 1946 issue of Life Magazine. Now it's vying to be one of the first to return.

At stake is as much as $20 billion worth of work rebuilding the war-shattered country. The Boise, Idaho-based construction firm, formerly Morrison-Knudsen, is competing with South Korea's Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co., Japan's Kajima Corp., the U.S.'s Caterpillar Inc. and Halliburton Co. and others for projects repairing roads and buildings, fixing bridges and clearing mines in one of the world's most unstable countries.

"It's very treacherous territory, both physically and politically," said Robert Hormats, a vice chairman at Goldman Sachs International who, as a U.S. State Department official, hiked the Khyber Pass into Afghanistan in 1979. He advises Goldman clients on the country. "There's an opportunity there, but it'll be pretty specialized work."

Aid groups and 33 countries are meeting today and tomorrow in Brussels to discuss Afghan reconstruction. A preliminary study by the World Bank, United Nations and Asian Development Bank said rebuilding the country could cost $10 billion to $20 billion over the next 10 years. A final study will be released in January.
(More: Bloomberg.com News Source)
2001 © Bloomberg L.P.

Dan