Egyptian building contractors lined up for major Iraqi construction projects

CAIRO: Seven leading Egyptian construction firms have been lined up to undertake major building projects in Iraq as part of a joint cooperation initiative between the two countries.

Hassan Abdel Aziz, president of the Egyptian Federation for Construction and Building Contractors, revealed that initial approval had been given for the specialist companies to help implement a number of infrastructure development programs.

The announcement followed a meeting between Egyptian Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities Assem Al-Jazzar and Ali Al-Sanafi, president of the Arab Federation of Construction and Building Contractors and the Iraqi Contractors Association, to discuss ways of harnessing Egyptian building and urban development expertise for reconstruction schemes in Iraq.

Abdel Aziz told media that representatives of several Egyptian construction, road and bridge-building companies including Arab Contractors, Petrojet, Talaat Moustafa, and Samco had attended the meeting.

He pointed out that a number of Egyptian contractors had already had experience of working on similar projects in Iraq before the US invasion.

Welcoming the prospect of joint cooperation between Egypt and Iraq in all fields, Al-Jazzar said Egyptian housebuilding expertise would help with the construction of new homes for Iraqi citizens from various income brackets.

Speaking to business newspaper, Al-Mal, Abdel Aziz said that Iraqi government and construction sector officials would be working with their Egyptian counterparts to select development projects for joint cooperation on.

He added that a delegation from the Iraqi government would be invited to visit Egypt to discuss the schemes with the Egyptian housing minister and conduct field trips to megaprojects implemented by Egypt.

Al-Sanafi handed a letter from the Iraqi minister of housing to Al-Jazzar stressing the important role that Egyptian contractors could play in the rebuilding of Iraq.