2023-05-27 12:57:44
During the work of the Development Road Conference
Iraq’s economy
The development road aims to link the port of Fao in southern Iraq with Turkey
Iraq launched today, Saturday, a project worth $17 billion to connect an important port for goods on its southern coast with the border with Turkey by extending a network of railways and roads, in a move aimed at transforming the country’s economy following decades of wars and crises.
The development road aims to link the oil-rich port of Faw in southern Iraq with Turkey, turning the country into a transit hub by shortening travel time between Asia and Europe in an attempt to compete with the Suez Canal.
Today, Saturday, the Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia’a Al-Sudani, affirmed that economic integration with Arab countries enhances stability, pointing to the launch of a regional project for transportation through its lands, which includes the “Great Al-Faw” port.
During his speech at the opening of the Development Road Conference, Al-Sudani mentioned that the development road is an economic artery and a promising opportunity for a meeting of interests, history and cultures.
Al-Sudani said, “The obstacles become easy before cooperation, and this is what we understand from officials,” pointing out that “the development path is an ambitious and deliberate plan to change reality towards a mature economic structure,” according to what was reported by the Iraqi News Agency, “INA.”
He continued, “We stand on the cusp of the key to confronting the influences that will pass through the path of development,” noting that “this government has committed itself to starting from the actual needs of the Iraqi people according to studied priorities.”
The Prime Minister indicated that the launch of a transport project across Iraq would be a “pillar” for a sustainable non-oil economy and a “connection node serving” Iraq’s neighbors and the region.
Al-Sudani said that the project will depend on intermodal corridors and more than 1,200 km of railways, their joint interoperability, and highways.
Al-Sudani stated that the great port of Faw will be “a gateway to this important economic movement.”
Run the first stage
For his part, Iraqi Transport Minister Razzaq Al-Saadawi said that his country intends to operate the first phase of the Al-Faw port project in mid-2025.
During the conference, the minister added, “The achievement rates achieved in the port of Faw amounted to more than 50 percent.”
The cost of the Al-Faw port project is regarding $2.6 billion, and it aims to establish a large commercial port in southern Iraq. It has been postponed more than once.
Today, the work of the Development Road Conference was launched in Baghdad, amid the participation of delegations of representatives from 10 countries in the region besides Iraq, and it will last for one day only.
The Iraqi Ministry of Transport had sent official invitations to attend the conference to a number of the region and neighboring Iraq, namely (Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the Emirates, Oman and Iran).
development doors
In addition, the general manager of the General Company for Iraqi Ports, Farhan Al-Fartousi, told Archyde.com: “Do not imagine that the development road is a road only for the passage of goods or travelers. No, this road will be an opening for the doors of development in vast areas in Iraq.”
The Iraqi government envisages high-speed trains transporting goods and passengers at speeds of up to 300 kilometers per hour, in addition to extending lines to local industry and energy centers, which might include oil and gas pipelines.
This will represent a major transformation of the country’s existing old transport network.
Iraq’s train service currently operates a handful of lines, including slow oil freighters and a single overnight passenger train from Baghdad to Basra that takes 10 to 12 hours on a 500 km journey.
Al-Fatousi also said that the Faw Grand Port project, which was planned for more than a decade, is halfway to completion.
Passenger transportation between Iraq and Europe goes back to major plans drawn up at the beginning of the twentieth century to launch a fast line from Baghdad to Berlin.
Al-Fartousi said, “The old road, Basra-Baghdad-Berlin, which used to transport the Iraqi tourist from Basra and from Baghdad, Iraq, towards Europe, we will find this road once more effective. Those who like to visit the holy shrines in Iraq or go to the House of God to perform Hajj or Umrah.
The Development Path project was announced on Saturday at a conference aimed at attracting the interest of Arab countries such as the Gulf states, Syria and Jordan. A senior government aide said regional investment was on the table.
There are promises of long-term development in Iraq, but infrastructure remains crumbling even as the government of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani efforts to rebuild roads and bridges.
But officials say that the path of development depends on something new, a period of relative stability that the country has witnessed since late last year, and they hope it will continue.
Al-Fartousi said that if work begins early next year, the project will be completed in 2029.
He added, “No matter how absent Iraq is from the civilized role… for a year or two, for a decade or two, it must return one day.”
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