REACHING AN OVERWHELMED BECHTEL: ONE ITALIAN

UNCLAS ROME 002260 SIPDIS EMBASSY LONDON FOR G. PASCOE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: BEXP EAID IZ IT SUBJECT: REACHING AN OVERWHELMED BECHTEL: ONE ITALIAN FIRM'S TRAVAILS REF: STATE 123390 ¶1. ON THE EVE OF THE LONDON CONFERENCE ON IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION, AND WITH FRONT PAGE COVERAGE IN THE MAY 21 ISSUE OF THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE OF HOW BECHTEL IS BEING OVERWHELMED WITH INQUIRIES FROM COMPANIES TRYING TO REGISTER AS POTENTIAL SUBCONTRACTORS, WE OFFER HERE THE PERSPECTIVE OF ONE ITALIAN COMPANY THAT IS STILL STRUGGLING WITH THE REGISTRATION PROCESS. ¶2. IN RESPONSE TO DEPARTMENT GUIDANCE DISSEMINATED BY EMBASSY ROME ON ABOUT MAY 6, AN ITALIAN HOLDING COMPANY WITH EXTENSIVE INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE IN THE FIELDS OF DRILLING AND OIL PLATFORM CONSTRUCTION AND A SUBSIDIARY IN THE U.S., BEGAN THE PROCESS OF TRYING TO REGISTER WITH BECHTEL. MORE THAN TWO WEEKS LATER, THE COMPANY IS STILL LABORING WITH THE PROCESS. FOLLOWING IS ITS ACCOUNT. ¶3. BEGIN QUOTE: WE ENTERED THE WEB-PAGE WWW.BECHTEL.COM AND CHOSE OUR LOGIN USERNAME AND PASSWORD. WE ALSO TICKED THE BOX TO BE AUTOMATICALLY LOGGED IN FOR FUTURE VISITS. WITH THE ABOVE PROCEDURE, WE ENTERED THE PAGE FOR THE REGISTRATION OF THE "SUPPLIERS AND CONTRACTORS8 AND TRIED TO FULFILL THE STEPS LISTED IN THE PARAGRAPH &HOW TO REGISTER8. WE ENTERED ALL REQUESTED DATA (DUNS NUMBER, ADDRESS, AND NAME OF THE RESPONSIBLE); THE SYSTEM RECOGNIZED OUR COMPANY BUT WE COULD NOT ENTER THE "QUESTIONNAIRE8 PAGE WHICH SEEMED QUITE STRANGE SINCE ALL THE PROCEDURE HAD BEEN PERFORMED CORRECTLY. WE STARTED AGAIN THE PROCEDURE AND TRIED SEVERAL TIMES WITHOUT SUCCESS. THEREFORE, IN ORDER TO FIND SOME HELP, WE ENTERED A PAGE OF THE BECHTEL SITE THAT LISTED ALL OFFICES WORLDWIDE. SINCE THE UK BRANCH IS THE ONE NEAREST TO US, WE PHONED THEM. AFTER A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF OUR DIFFICULTIES, WE HAVE BEEN ASKED FOR AN E-MAIL ADDRESS WHERE WE WOULD HAVE BEEN CONTACTED SHORTLY. WITHIN ONE HOUR WE RECEIVED AN E-MAIL EXPLAINING THAT "DUE TO THE VOLUME OF SUPPLIERS/SUBCONTRACTORS ( THE SUPPLIER PORTAL HAS BEEN EXPERIENCING UNEXPECTED BEHAVIOR(8. THEY ALSO SUGGESTED TO SEND AN E-MAIL TO IRAQACQU@BECHTEL.COM TO ENABLE THEM TO VERIFY ALL COMPANY DATA. WE SENT AN E-MAIL TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS WITH ALL REQUESTED DATA AND ASKED FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS. THE NEXT DAY WE RECEIVED ANOTHER E-MAIL WHICH INFORMED US THAT THE REGISTRATION PROCEDURE HAD BEEN STARTED AGAIN. AN ATTACHED FORM HAD TO BE FILLED IN WITH THE COMPANY DATA AND SENT BACK TO THE ATTENTION OF THE IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT DESK. THIS IS THE REGISTRATION SITUATION UP TO NOW. END QUOTE. ¶4. COMMENT: WE APPRECIATE THAT BECHTEL IS DOING ITS BEST TO COPE WITH AN UNPRECEDENTED SITUATION, WHICH IS ONLY EXACERBATED BY THE INSTRUCTIONS WE CURRENTLY HAVE TO DIRECT PROSPECTIVE SUBCONTRACTORS TO THE WEBSITES OF PRIME CONTRACTORS. WE HOPE THAT SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS THAT EMERGE FROM THE LONDON CONFERENCE ON IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION WILL BE QUICKLY DISSEMINATED BACK TO POSTS SO THAT WE MAY HELP TO ASSUAGE PROBLEMS SUCH AS THAT DESCRIBED ABOVE. END COMMENT. SKODON NNNN 2003ROME02260 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED