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New details on Iraq’s Development Road project: Turkey will invest USD 17.9 bn into developing railway links for the Development Road Project while the remaining USD 2 bn will be invested into highway infrastructure upgrades, Turkish Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu told Anadolu. The project is forecasted to handle an estimated 7.5 mn TEUs of cargo moving annually across the region, he added.
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REFRESHER- The UAE, Iraq, Turkey, and Qatar signed a preliminary agreement back in April to work together on the Development Road project in Iraq, which aims to connect a significant commodities port on Iraq’s southern coast — the Grand Faw Port — to Turkey’s border via rail and road networks. The project’s railway track is almost 80% complete, while the expressway is 75% complete. The Iraqi Transport Ministry inked an agreement in July with consulting firm Oliver Wyman to help market the project, supervise investments, and provide economic advisory services for strategic government projects.
How the rail investment is being divvied up: 1,655 km of railway being added to an existing 439 km track, Uraloglu added. From the USD 17.9 figure allocated to rail works, USD 7.1 bn has been allocated to the ongoing construction of 928 km of the railway, developing 727 km of railway starting in Sirnak province, and 501 km between Nusaybin, Mardin, Sanliurfa and Gaziantep. USD 10.8 bn will be allocated to build 106 km of railways between the Yenice to Ulukisla portion of the railway and 120 km of railway between Gebze and Catalca.
And the rest will go into roads: The project looks to plug USD 2 bn into building 331 km of highway across Turkey. This will see the development of a 23 km road from Ovakoy-Cizre and a 308 km road between Cizre and Sanliurfa.
A consultant has been selected: Iraq’s General Company for Iraqi Railways (GCIR) inked an agreement with Italian engineering consultancy firm BTP Infrastrutture to conduct the feasibility study and design for the first phase of the project, according to a statement.
