ERBIL, Iraq (AFP) – Iraq’s prime minister on Saturday announced plans for a $17 billion regional transport project aimed at facilitating the flow of goods from Asia to Europe.
The announcement came during a one-day conference in Baghdad, attended by transport ministers and representatives from Iraq, the Gulf states, Turkey, Iran, Syria and Jordan.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani He said the planned development road project would facilitate the transport of goods from the Gulf to Europe via the Grand Faw Port in Basra, southern Iraq, which would be linked to Turkey, and then to Europe, via a network of railways and highways.
Al-Sudani said that one of the most important aspects of the project will be the development of the Grand Faw Port and the adjacent “smart industrial city.”
The planned project, which includes the construction of about 1,200 kilometers (about 745 miles) of railways and highways, will be an “economic lifeline and a promising opportunity for the convergence of interests, history and cultures,” Al-Sudani said, adding that it will “make our countries a source of modern industries and goods.”
He did not mention how the project would be financed, but noted that Iraq “will rely heavily on cooperation… with brotherly and friendly countries.”
The countries participating in Saturday’s conference agreed to form joint technical committees to push the project forward.
Iraq’s relations with the Gulf states have been tense in recent decades, as Iran-backed militias The group emerged in Iraq in the wake of the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein and created a power vacuum in the country.
However, there were signs of improving relations with the country’s neighbors. In January, Iraq hosted an international conference that included eight countries. Arabian Gulf Cup in Basrathe first international football tournament hosted by the country in more than four decades.
