Designs for the Development Road are complete with eyes on financing

BAGHDAD — Iraq has finished the preliminary designs for the Development Road and its railway component, the Transport Ministry said Sunday, while disclosing that Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has only now ordered officials to draw up “a comprehensive mechanism for financing the project” — the issue expected to dominate his talks in Ankara.

The ministry said work has moved to detailed designs covering “infrastructure, bridges, stations and technical facilities extending along the project’s route,” and that it is reviewing technical plans for the railway and highway sections and assessing what is needed to start construction. The current phase also includes completing an economic model intended to make the project more attractive to Iraqi and international investors.

Transport Minister Wahab al-Hasani and his Turkish counterpart, Abdulkadir Uraloglu, agreed on the need to speed up technical plans and finalize implementation procedures when Uraloglu visited Baghdad on July 21, a ministry media official told Iraq’s state newspaper. The official said the project would enter its implementation phase after the remaining preparatory stages, and that “the Development Road file will be among the leading issues raised for discussion during the prime minister’s expected visit to the Turkish capital, Ankara.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan renewed his invitation for Zaidi to visit Ankara at the end of July during a June 22 call covering the corridor, oil exports, water and economic cooperation. The two reaffirmed their commitment to the project in a further call on July 9, and officials discussed political and logistical arrangements for the trip on July 16. No date has been announced.

The Development Road is a proposed trade corridor linking Grand Faw Port in southern Iraq to Turkey across roughly 1,200 km of railways and highways. Baghdad says it would channel Gulf and Asian trade toward European markets and make Iraq a regional transport and logistics hub. Iraq, Turkey, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have signed a memorandum supporting it, a statement of intent rather than a funding commitment. Oman has asked to join and China has expressed interest at the investment or implementation level, according to the ministry.

The first phase is targeted for 2031, a second for 2038 and full capacity for 2050. Iraqi officials have estimated the corridor could create more than 100,000 direct jobs and about 1.6 million indirect jobs, alongside an economic zone and industrial city in Faw.

The northern route is still unsettled, because it must pass through or near the Kurdistan Region to reach Turkey. Kurdistan Regional Government officials have called for the region to be included in decisions on the route, revenue and administrative authority.

In February, officials said final highway designs were 78% complete and railway designs 88% complete. The ministry said then that five berths at Grand Faw Port had been handed to the government, the container yard was more than 98% complete and the navigation channel was finished.