BearingPoint Wins Afghanistan Rebuilding Contract

The United States Agency for International Development said Wednesday that it has awarded a contract to tech and business services outsourcer BearingPoint to assist with the rebuilding of public and private institutions in Afghanistan.

Under the five-year deal, valued at $218.6 million, BearingPoint consultants will help improve the operational performance of governments, businesses, and nongovernmental organizations as part of USAID's Afghans Building Capacity program.

A spokesman for BearingPoint said project leader Lori Bittner was en route to Kabul Wednesday to begin work on the contract. BearingPoint already has performed similar work in Afghanistan under a USAID contract awarded in 2002.

Helping to rebuild war-ravaged countries isn't without risk for civilian contractors. BearingPoint employee Tracy Hushin was killed in Iraq in January of 2005 while working on a USAID contract by insurgents who attacked her convoy.