10.3 | Reconstruction: oil, commercial interests, debt relief, asylum and stabilisation policy

630. Ms Hewitt reported those concerns to the first meeting of the Ad Hoc Ministerial

Group on Iraq Rehabilitation (AHMGIR) on 10 April.370 She said that she had turned

down the proposal that there should be a UK reconstruction fund for the exclusive

use of UK companies. There were worrying signs that the US was setting technical

standards which only US firms could meet.

631. Ms Hewitt wrote to Mr Blair on the issue of technical standards in USAID contracts

on 15 April.371

632. The Inquiry has seen no indication that Ms Hewitt received a reply, or that Mr Blair

saw the letter.

633. On 16 April, the US Government established the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction

Fund (IRRF) and provided US$2.475bn to fund humanitarian relief and reconstruction

activities.372 USAID received just over 70 percent of those funds.

634. The following day, USAID announced that it had awarded its main infrastructure

reconstruction contract, worth up to US$680m, to Bechtel International.373

635. TPUK hosted the first meeting of the Iraq Industry Working Group (IIWG) on

24 April.374 TPUK intended that the IIWG would act as a channel of communication

between the UK Government and industry, to support the Government’s efforts to help

UK companies access commercial opportunities in Iraq.

636. In July 2003, the IIWG established six sector working groups: power, water, oil and

gas, health, education and telecommunications.375

637. Baroness Symons visited Washington on 16 May, accompanied by representatives

of the IIWG, the BCCB and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), to discuss the

participation of UK companies in Iraq’s reconstruction with the US Government and

Bechtel.376

638. Baroness Symons wrote to Mr Straw and Ms Hewitt on 19 May, reporting that

she had been repeatedly assured of US enthusiasm for granting subcontracts to

UK companies.

370 Minutes, 10 April 2003, Ad Hoc Group on Iraq Rehabilitation meeting.

371 Letter Hewitt to Prime Minister, 15 April 2003, ‘Iraq Reconstruction: Standards Issues’.

372 Bowen SW Jr. Hard Lessons: The Iraq Reconstruction Experience. U.S. Government Printing

Office, 2009.

373 Bowen SW Jr. Hard Lessons: The Iraq Reconstruction Experience. U.S. Government Printing

Office, 2009.

374 Paper TPUK, 6 May 2003, ‘Annex G: Iraq: Progress on Commercial Opportunities’.

375 Minute Warren to TPUK [junior official], 30 July 2003, ‘Iraq Sector Approach’.

376 Letter Symons to Straw, 19 May 2003, ‘British Construction/Humanitarian Help in Iraq’.

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