Published: 23 August 2024
$20bn project to connect Iraqi port of Basra to Turkey and beyond; project an alternative route to Suez Canal
NT Bureau
Doha
Turkey will host a four-way summit with Iraq, Qatar and the UAE on August 29 to discuss an ambitious multi-billion-dollar project to connect the Iraqi port of Basra on the Gulf to Turkey and beyond, Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said on Friday, according to Al Monitor.
The meeting will bring together ministers from all three states at the Dolmabahce Palace, home to the last Ottoman sultan, where “significant decisions” will be made, Uraroglu told Turkish state broadcaster TRT. Qatar and the UAE are potential investors in the project.
The estimated $20bn project was formalized during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s official visit in April to Baghdad and will link the al-Faw port in Basra that is currently under construction to Turkey via a 1,275-kilometer rail and road network.
Abu Dhabi’s AD Ports Group has inked a preliminary deal with Iraq’s General Company for Ports of Iraq to develop al-Faw and its planned economic zone.
“Iraq is home to roughly 10% of global oil reserves and accounts for 5% of global production. Energy will hence play a pivotal role in the scheme. The Iraqi government reckons that once completed, the project will significantly reduce the cost of trade between China and Europe,” the report said.
Nejat Tamzok, a Turkish academic, said: “The project is expected to reduce the time it takes to transport goods be-tween the Chinese port of Shanghai and the Dutch port of Rotterdam from thirty-three days to fifteen days by creat-ing an alternative route to the Suez Canal. It includes not only transportation infrastructure but also energy transmis-sion and communication lines,” he observed in a recent essay for the Eurasia Review.
Tamzok noted, however, that the Development Road faces stiff competition from China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the US-supported India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor and Iran’s rival plans to develop its own ports for regional trade routes connecting Asia with the Middle East and Europe and is leery of any projects that would diminish its politi-cal and economic clout, as the Development Road likely would.
Next week’s summit comes against the backdrop of concerted efforts between Iraq and Turkey to improve bilateral ties.
