US-based project management firm Hill International is now seeking consultants to help prepare the $30bn masterplan for Basra Governorate in Southern Iraq.

“We are in the process of registering and qualifying consultants. We have approached people locally, we are going wider,” said Mohammed al-Rais, senior vice-president and managing director of Hill International, speaking at MEED’s Arabian World Construction Summit (AWCS) in Dubai on 12 May. “We want to attract all the international capabilities that are out there.”

Last year, Hill was awarded a $54m contract for the masterplanning of the Basra Governorate in the south of the country. The one-year contract is automatically renewable for an additional two years.

Under the contract, Hill will be providing consulting services to assist with the management of Basra’s capital projects by developing strategies for infrastructure planning and rehabilitation, overseeing the implementation of project designs, assisting with the qualification of contractors, reviewing project bids, providing onsite supervision and auditing contract advances and payments.

With the Basra projects and other projects in the region, Hill International expects to employ additional staff in the Middle East by the end of this year.

“We currently have 1,700 people,” said Al-Rais. “By the end of this year we will be 2,000.”