KARACHI, Jan 5: Pakistan's exclusion from a list of 63 countries that are eligible to compete for contracts financed with USA approved funds in war ravaged Iraq , has dismayed quite a good number of local businessmen who feel disappointed on being denied a share in a very lucrative business.

A few Pakistani firms that sought participation in reconstruction jobs in war-torn Iraq were declared ineligible to compete because their home country was not included in the list of approved countries. One such leading food company based in Karachi was involved in sub contracting for supply of stationery items to primary school in Iraq last year.

It was now vying directly for a similar contract. The company has been told only this week that it was not eligible to compete as its home country Pakistan has been excluded from the list of countries that are eligible to seek contracts.

A few business leaders have drawn Foreign Ministry's attention on Pakistan's exclusion from the list of eligible countries. "Till this day there is no response even from the top functionary," a leading food operator told Dawn.

Relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction in Iraq has now become an attractive business proposition for a large number of businessmen after US Congress approved $18.6 billion fund last autumn and other countries offered $13 billion for this purpose.

Construction and trade in Iraq were never scandal-free. Corruption and cuts were rule of the day in trade during Saddam regime. Exporters of wheat to Iraq about two years ago have a lot of stories to tell as to how Pakistani wheat was found unfit for Iraqis and then what was done to make same wheat a popular edible item in Baghdad and other parts.

Iraq, under the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority presents same spectacle of corruption and kick-backs when it comes to awarding contracts. Western newspapers and websites offer a lot of information on what business is going on in Iraq. The 11-member Programme Review Board that includes Americans, Britons and Australians is reported to be holding twice a week meetings.

It is reported to have approved more than 500 projects and contracts, many of which have generated a lot of controversy. Proceedings of the board meetings are not made public. The companies, mainly from the US, Britain and other European countries that are denied contracts have started providing information to media as to how job works are sanctioned.

The Iraqi Trade Ministry is investigating a $40 million deal. A well known American oil company reportedly over-charged $61 million for import of oil in Iraq. There is another deal of $80 million for construction of wooden doors that is being scrutinised and examined. All such reports tempt Pakistani businessmen to go into greener pastures and reap rich harvest which they believe is being denied to them rather unfairly.

The list of the 63 approved countries has been released only a few weeks before in a reputed American journal Defense Policy. It does not include India, China and Russia's name eligible for competing contracts in Iraq.

Interestingly, the list includes names of 14 Muslim countries that are Afghanistan, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the UAE. The names of the US, United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, Thailand, Hungary, South Korea and Thailand appear very conspicuously.

Then there are Albania, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Colombia, Czech republic, Dominican republic, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Honduras, Iceland, Kazakhistan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Philippines, Portugal, Rwanda, Slovakia, Tonga, Uganda and Ukraine from where the companies would be able to compete for contracts in Iraq.