Tripoli – Construction company Andrade Gutierrez has just won three contracts in Libya, with a total value of US$ 600 million. Thus, the company will be become the third large building company from Brazil to operate in the Arab country, in addition to Odebrecht and Queiroz Galvão. The information was disclosed to ANBA this Tuesday (30th) by the Institutional Relations director of the company, Flávio Machado.
The executive is currently in Libya to accompany the visit of president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. According to him, the contracts are for urban infrastructure projects in the vicinities of Tripoli and range from sanitation to roads. This is the company’s first incursion into the country. It operates in other North African nations, such as Algeria and Mauritania.
According to Machado, the company started seeking opportunities in Libya approximately one year ago, and already has a local office. “We are also participating in the tender for building a train system in Tripoli,” he stated. “We are the only Brazilian company taking part,” he added.
Infrastructure and civil construction rank among the most promising sectors ever since Libya started a process of economic opening early this decade, funded mostly by oil production.
The Brazilian ambassador in Tripoli, Luciano Ozório Rosa, said that eight new hotels are now being built in Tripoli, for instance. The city’s commercial area, next to the coastline and the historic centre, is filled with construction sites for roads and buildings.
According to Brazilians involved in the industry, such as the president of Odebrecht, Marcelo Odebrecht, who is also visiting the country, new opportunities should come up. The company, which has been present in Libya longer, is in charge of building a beltway and the new Tripoli airport, which the local government wants to turn into a hub linking Europe and Africa.
Marcelo Odebrecht underscored that Libya, with around 6 million inhabitants, presently has the highest per capita income in Africa, and therefore a strong construction sector demand.
No crisis
The businessman also stated that his sector has been little affected by the international financial crisis. He claimed, for instance, that Odebrecht has hired approximately 15,000 employees since the worsening of the crisis, in the second half of 2008, and 10,000 this year.
Along the same lines, Flávio Machado said that Andrade Gutierrez’ revenues in 2009 should surpass those of last year. He explained that large Brazilian construction companies operate mainly in developing nations, which were less affected by the crisis than major economies.
Ambassador Luciano Rosa added that the oil industry is still going strong, with 45 international enterprises operating in the country. He said that the cost of local onshore production is low, averaging at around US$ 5 per barrel.
One such enterprise is the Brazilian state-owned oil company Petrobras, which is drilling for oil off of the Libyan coast under a five-year contract which, according to the ambassador, may be extended for another five and, should the company find the commodity, it will retain production rights for 25 years.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
