Iraq to issue Development Road tenders in packages
The Development Road involves the construction of a 1,200-kilometre rail line and a parallel motorway traversing most of Iraq up to Turkey, and will be offered in several packages to contractors as it also comprises 15 industrial and economic zones, said Maytham Safi, information director at Iraq's transport ministry.
Safi said in comments published by Iraq's media that the US consultancy firm Oliver Wyman is the economic adviser to the project while designs are carried out by Italy's BTP Infrastrutture.
'The initial designs for the project have been completed and we are now into the detailed design process…..we have made considerable progress in this stage so we can say that the project will be tendered to global companies before the end of this year,' Safi said.
The UAE, Qatar and Turkey are partners in the 'Development Road' project, which will cut across 11 Iraqi governorates up to the Northern border with Turkey, from where shipments will travel to and from Europe.
Iraq hopes other countries and companies will join the project to secure funding on an investment and revenue-sharing basis.
Officials said last year the project, one of the largest of its kind in the Middle East, would be served by the Southern Faw Port, slated to be among the largest 20 container terminals. The port is expected to be commissioned before the end of 2025 while the 'Development Road' is scheduled to be completed in 2029.
Iraq, OPEC's second largest oil producer, hopes the project will turn it into a major transit and business hub in the region.
(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)
(anoop.menon@lseg.com)
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