Türkiye-Iraq Development Road Project to realize total investment of nearly $20B

Turkish Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu announced that the Development Road Project aims to achieve a total infrastructure investment plan of $19.9 billion upon completion of planned railway and road projects.

Uraloglu stated that international cooperation negotiations are still ongoing and Türkiye and Iraq are working on the follow-up of the project.

Uraloglu stated that international cooperation negotiations are still ongoing and Türkiye and Iraq are working on the follow-up of the project.

“There will be 2,094 kilometers (1,301 miles) of railway connections from Türkiye, and for this, we will build 1,655 kilometers of railways in addition to the 439-kilometer line that already exists, and an investment of $17.9 billion will be realized by then,” the minister said.

331 kilometers of highway to be built

Uraloglu highlighted that the construction of 928 kilometers of railways is still ongoing with an allocated budget of $7.1 billion, and plans are underway to build 727 kilometers of additional railways, starting from the southeastern Sirnak province’s Ovakoy village, and 501 kilometers between Nusaybin district on the Syrian border in Mardin province, and the provinces of Sanliurfa and Gaziantep.

“Some 106 kilometers of railways will be built for the Yenice-Ulukisla section and 120 kilometers for Gebze and Catalca, with a projected amount of $10.8 billion,” said Uraloglu.

As for highway investments, the minister stated that a total of 331 kilometers of highway will be built, including 23 kilometers for the Ovakoy-Cizre road and 308 kilometers from Cizre to Sanliurfa, with a total of $2 billion allocated from the investments.

“The Development Road Project will play a key role in increasing regional cooperation and it is important for regional and global supply chains,” the minister noted.
This project stands out as the shortest and the most practical project connecting the Persian Gulf to Europe, he added.

Uraloglu mentioned that the transportation projects are estimated to result in 7.5 million twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) cargo to be transported annually in the region.