An Economist explains the importance of the “Development Road Project”

The Economist, Nabil Al-Marsoumi, highlighted the importance of the development road project, which is the key to the commercial link between Asia and Europe, regarding the cost of the project, the expected revenues, and the length of the project.

Al-Marsoumi said in a blog post, “The development road / the dry channel / is the key to the commercial link between Asia and Europe, and the cost of the project is 17 billion dollars, and the expected revenues are 4.850 billion dollars annually,” noting that the length of the project is 1,200 km and extends from Al-Faw to the Iraqi-Turkish border, in the Fishkhabur region, and then to Europe via Turkey, and it includes a double railway line, as well as a land road.

He pointed out that “the expected capacity for transportation in the first phase is 3.5 million containers annually, and 22 million tons of goods, in addition to serving about 15 million passengers annually.”

He added, “The first phase will be completed in 2028, while the second phase will be completed in 2038 and the third in 2050, in conjunction with the port of Faw reaching its full production and capacity after the completion of these phases, and the related projects will be completed.”

Al-Marsoumi indicated that “the importance of the agreement between Iraq and Turkey to start building a double track that includes a land corridor and a railway line that extends from Basra to Turkey within the so-called dry channel, that it will turn Iraq into a major transport station for European countries after Turkey, as shipments that arrive by sea will pass through the port of Faw to Turkey and Europe through the dry channel, and it will transport Turkish and European goods to Iraq and from there to the Gulf states, Iran, Syria and Jordan.

He pointed out that “the Dry Channel is the complementary project for the large port of Faw, the first phase of which is expected to be completed in 2025, through which the sea voyage time for ships loaded with goods traveling at a speed of 15 miles per hour, from the Chinese port of Shanghai to the port of Rotterdam will be reduced by about 33 sea days per hour.” While it takes only 15 days when goods are transported from Shanghai to the Pakistani port of Gwadar, then to the great port of Faw, and from there through the Dry Channel to the Mediterranean ports in Syria and Turkey, and from there to the port of Rotterdam, and this means that transportation through Iraq will provide a substantial reduction in the cost of transporting goods up to more than a half.

He explained: “There is a project to link the trade between the UAE and Turkey through Iran, as the goods will be transported from the port of Sharjah to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, and then start traveling by land to the Bazargan-Gorbulak border crossing between Iran and Turkey, and then to the port of Iskenderun on the Mediterranean coast in Turkey”.

Al-Marsoumi pointed out that “Iran will reap the customs tariffs that it will impose on the passage of trucks through its territory, in addition to its contribution to the movement of land trade in the region, but the tensions in the region and the differences that occur between the Gulf states and Iran, in addition to the tension between Iran, America and Israel, make the agreement was fragile, which motivated the UAE and Turkey because of that and a desire to reduce that time by using Iraq as a transit point for trade between them, as the time can be shortened if railway and road projects are implemented within the double track of the dry channel, and in this case the goods will be transported from Jebel Ali port to The great port of Faw, and from there it will be transported by land through the dry channel to Turkey, especially since the latter will have a pivotal role in the Silk Road, especially after the opening of the Istanbul water canal that connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Black Sea, and then benefit from the Turkish transport network in the flow of goods to Europe. This link will enhance the great port of Faw and the site of Iraq on the Silk Road.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency