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Now that the war between Israel and Lebanon is over – well, over at the time of writing – there may be an opportunity for Florida businesses to get some of the reconstruction and humanitarian work that is rapidly coming down the pike.

In this volatile region there is never a guarantee that a military skirmish, or even a full-scale war, might not break out again just as rapidly as it did on this past occasion. However, there comes a time when standing back to see how things work out is probably a mistake. From my research, past knowledge, and reading the lines and between the lines of the many documents, speeches, reports, commentaries and governmental posturing, from all sides, it would appear that the ceasefire worked out in the United Nations Security Council recently would appear to have about as much international support as one could dream of given all the circumstances and conditions surrounding both the war and the ceasefire. My recommendations should be tempered by a degree of caution and a whole lot of your own research and counsel.

President Bush has announced over $230 million in humanitarian and reconstruction aid together with over $42 million to re-equip and train the Lebanese military. That is only the pledge of support from the U.S. Of course, there are many more pledges of financial aid from other nations and trading blocks which will also need an almost immediate input from the corporate sector by way of performing the various tasks and commitments to rebuild the quite devastated Lebanese nation if democracy is to retool itself to perform all the tasks needed to become a full participant in the region’s development and in the global economy. President Bush has acknowledged the need to act quickly – in spite of the slowness of diplomacy – to rebuild Lebanon and to allow its citizens to regain their livelihoods again.

The President has also announced that he is forming a delegation of private sector leaders in business and Non-governmental Agencies (NGOs) to go to Lebanon to determine what needs to be done immediately. It would probably be prudent, particularly for our small-to-medium businesses that have commodities, products, or services which would be suitable for the rebuilding of Lebanon to get themselves on that delegation. My understanding from a call to the White House on the matter is that small-to-medium businesses and leaders will not be excluded from this delegation.

The big guys obviously have a place on the delegation. If you feel you cannot devote the time and/or money to be a part of this delegation, it might be helpful if you can contact the “big guy” delegates and try to work with them to enable you to get a foot in the door at bidding for the millions that will be available. You can be just as prepared as most businesses who work on a quick turn-around timeframe when dealing with emergency contracting. I hope you have a crisis policy in written format that will help you to deal with the process.

It would probably be good for your research to start with the White House website. There you will get a webcast of the President’s statement and press conference of August 21st. I realize that by the time you read this, it will be several days away; however it is still worth a visit. There are many other pages on the White House website that are helpful.

The Department of State’s website should be your second research site. There you will find much great information and helpful hints about trading globally in general terms; but also in relation to bidding for contracts in relation to Lebanon together with the U.S. Aid package. The U.S. Aid website has very valuable content that is highly helpful.

The Department of Commerce should be thoroughly researched. Commerce has many representatives throughout the country and their regional office in Orlando is a huge source of helpful information and details about trading generally and hopefully by the time you get there, they will have specific information relating to contracting for Lebanese reconstruction and humanitarian aid. The contact list for all Department of Commerce regional offices is on their website.

Enterprise Florida – the state commerce body – has very instructive and impressive information. Also, their representatives are very competent and knowledgeable with a reason d’etre to assist Florida businesses in their overseas endeavors. Research their website and make personal contact with their representatives who are always available and willing to help with information, contacts, agents, commercial and financial information to enable you to make your comprehensive, if somewhat hasty, decision. The Enterprise Florida representatives are very experienced in all aspects of exporting all over the world and they will have the most up-to-date information about working in Lebanon.

The Departments of Transportation and Treasury websites are also worth a visit. You should not discount the websites of the major international and national NGOs as quite an amount of the aid will go in their direction for humanitarian aid and perhaps to a lesser extent for reconstruction aid. The NGOs generally contract out most of their work and their websites are valuable sources of information about how their money is contracted and spent.

Last, it is imperative that you research the Middle East to get a strong sense of the cultural, ethnic, religious, political, economic and social structures and traditions in place (and not in place) to help in your decision making. A visit to the Al Jazeerah website (www.aljazeerah.net) will be most informative, particularly on the sensitive political, cultural, and religious issues with which you will be confronted. If you do decide to contract for some of the Lebanese reconstruction and humanitarian missions, I strongly suggest an almost daily visit to the Al Jazeerah website to keep yourself apprised of what they are saying.

Making these decisions is a difficult process, but they can be lucrative. Remember, somebody has to do it and you can bet your bottom dollar that European Union companies won’t have any qualms about bidding and succeeding.
You should bear in mind that if your commodity, product or service needs a U.S. government export license that you contact the requisite government department to ensure that you are compliant. Good Luck.

Ailish M. Nic Phaidin, MPRII ©
President & CEO
Access Link International, Inc.
Public Relations & Marketing Counselors
Phone: + 321-952-2978; Email: Ailish@AccessLinkInternational.com