Iraq, Turkey, UAE, Qatar sign road MoU

A memorandum of understanding has been signed for a US$17 billion road project  between the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Qatar and Turkey.

The project, to be carried out in three phases, seeks to create a strategic trade corridor linking Iraq’s small port of Faw in the southern Basra region with the Turkish border in northern Iraq.

However, as small as Faw is, on the northern tip of the Persian Gulf, the port is undergoing massive construction. It is considered a strategic national project and plans are to make it one of the largest ports in the the Middle East.

The first phase will be completed in 2028, the second in 2033 and the third in 2050, according to a statement from Qatar’s Ministry of Transport. It will create a land route and railway extending from Iraq to Turkey and its ports in order to export and import from Europe. The length of the route within Iraq is expected to be around 1,200km.

The memorandum was signed in the Iraqi capital Baghdad during visits by leaders from the three states. Local media were reporting few other details of the agreement.