On Sunday, Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani said that the development road project is one of the Iraqi government’s priority projects.
According to a statement published by Al-Sudani’s office, this happened during his meeting today with Turkish Minister of Transport Abdulkadir Oraloglu, who is visiting Baghdad to mature the common understandings between Iraq and Turkey about the development road project.
According to the statement, Al-Sudani stated that its implementation (the development road project) will strengthen common ties between Iraq, Turkey, and the rest of the region in the interests of the region, pointing out that it is the best, shortest, and least expensive corridor in terms of transportation and transit and linking.
According to the statement, Al-Sudani welcomed the Turkish side’s excitement for participation in the big project, emphasizing the need of continuing technical conversations between the two nations in order to establish an economic model through which the project would be completed.
The Turkish Minister of Transport, for his part, reiterated his country’s serious desire to actively participate in the development road project, expressing the Turkish government’s satisfaction with Iraq’s plans and necessary steps, as well as its significant and constructive efforts in the field of advancing and reforming the Iraqi economy.
Yesterday, Saturday, the Minister of Transport, Razzaq Muhaibas Al-Saadawi, met with Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Abdulkadir Uraloglu, and his entourage in Baghdad to discuss the development road project.
The value of the development road project is projected at 17 billion dollars to connect a significant port for cargo, “Al-Faw Grand Port,” on the southern Iraqi coast to the Turkish border by constructing a railway and road network.
The development route proposes to connect the oil-rich port of Al-Faw in southern Iraq with Turkey, transforming the nation into a transit hub by decreasing travel time between Asia and Europe in a bid to compete with the Suez Canal.
The Iraqi government plans to build high-speed trains capable of moving products and passengers at speeds of up to 300 kilometers per hour, as well as to connect lines to local industrial and energy hubs, which might include oil and gas pipelines.
The main transportation roadways will be linked to the main port of Al-Faw on the Gulf’s coastlines, according to the proposals, by updating and developing more than 1.2 thousand kilometers of trains and highways connecting Iraq to neighboring nations.
