IDB Project Leads to Additional IFI-Funded Work in Guyana for Challenger Geomatics

Its strategy of building relationships on the ground with partners, clients and the IFIs has proven to be a recipe for success for Challenger Geomatics Ltd. Along with its consortium firm, Alta Canadian Geomatics Inc., Challenger is in the final stages of an urban development project in Guyana, financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). As was the case in other IFI-funded projects, making local connections early in the game was key for the Alberta-based consulting firm.

It was one of Alta Canadian's partners of Guyanese descent who brought the urban development project to Challenger's attention, in 1999. "We immediately submitted an expression of interest to the IDB and were subsequently short-listed for the project," says Al Zaver, Challenger's International Vice President. "Then we went down to Guyana to meet with the client, the local partner and the Bank, and presented our proposal right there." After being informed that it had won the tender, Challenger negotiated a $US 2.6 million contract in 2000 for the rehabilitation of infrastructure and services in Guyana's six urban municipalities.

Exporting Technological Expertise

The first stage of this complex project consisted of technical assistance and training aimed at improving municipal management and planning, property tax assessment reform, and capacity building. The second phase, which is slated for completion in March, 2003, involves the civil works for the rehabilitation of infrastructure and services.

It hasn't all been smooth sailing, however, according to Zaver. "We've had our share of ups and downs. Guyana, like many developing countries, is faced with deteriorating infrastructure and services. This is due to the lack of municipal capacity and revenues to promote the sustainable operation of services and the maintenance of infrastructures. However, this project presented us with a unique opportunity to combine the technology that is currently in use in Canadian municipalities with our firm's experience in having worked in more than twenty countries."

Connecting with the IFIs

Before securing the Guyana deal, Zaver made several trips to Washington to build relationships with the World Bank and the IDB, hoping to be able to do business with them down the road. That strategy and the company's presence in Guyana have paid off with further IDB-funded opportunities in the region. "We were recently approached for assignments such as a GPS-based geodetic control network, land titling of rural areas and a sea-defence project, some of which we have already been shortlisted for," says Zaver. Because the IDB has a resident office in Georgetown, Challenger has the advantage of being able to deal with local officers. "IDB staff in Guyana have been working continuously with us," adds Zaver, "so we've actually had very little to do with Washington."

Working with the World Bank and the ADB in Mongolia

Challenger's expertise has also been utilized in another IFI-backed venture in Mongolia, where the firm has established an office and conducted a pre-investment study for the Ger Upgrading Project. Challenger has been shortlisted for the first phase of this $US 30 million, World Bank-funded initiative, which is aimed at providing basic infrastructure and services to the poorly developed Ger areas of Ulaanbaatar. The firm has also concluded a proposal for a CIDA-funded feasibility study relating to a cadastral survey project to be financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). "We set up our Mongolian office in order to position ourselves to obtain that project and others with the ADB," explains Zaver. "Our approach is to establish relationships on site with the clients and the funding agencies. We feel that is the road to success."

Meeting the Needs of Clients Worldwide

Established in 1984, Challenger Geomatics provides products and services in the areas of engineering, information technologies, municipal surveying, machinery guidance systems, offshore navigation, and oil field and GPS applications. The company serves its North American clients from offices in Calgary, Edmonton, Regina and Whitehorse and its international customers from joint venture offices in Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines and Thailand. It has affiliates in Ghana, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Myanmar, Nigeria, and Vietnam.

In 2001, Challenger was presented with the Alberta Land Surveyors' Association's first-ever Geomatics Award of Excellence, for the development of its satellite-aided navigation systems for heavy equipment. Geomatics—a Canadian-coined term that is gaining acceptance worldwide—is the science of gathering, analyzing, and interpreting geographic information.

For more information, contact:

Export Financing Division, DFAIT
Tel.: (613) 995-7251
E-mail: ifinet@international.gc.ca

Al Zaver, International Vice President
Challenger Geomatics Ltd.
Tel.: (780) 424-5511
E-mail: azaver@chalsurv.com
Internet: www.chalsurv.com

Publication date: 2003-01-20