The proposal by Baghdad, of a roadway and railway, would make them a commercial hub between the Middle East and Europe
Baghdad presented on Saturday an ambitious project for the construction of roadways and railways, from Turkey to the Gulf states. The two structures were designed to make Iraq a commercial hub between the Middle East and Europe.
Valued at $17 billion by the Iraqi government, the project is still in the earliest stage, and the first shovel for this 1,200 km corridor has not hit the ground.
According to Baghdad's wishes, the road and rail are to be built in cooperation with countries in the region - Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Jordan, Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia - who were all invited to the Iraqi capital on Saturday, in order to officially announce the "Route of Development.”
"We see this project as a pillar of a sustainable non-oil economy,” declared Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani, “a link that serves Iraq's neighbors and the region, and a contribution to economic integration efforts."
Each country wishing to do so "will be able to carry out part of the project", explained the Iraqi Parliament's Transport Committee, which estimates that the project could be completed "within three to five years".
However, after the country was ravaged by decades of war and pervasive corruption, oil-rich Iraq has a huge infrastructure problem. Its roads are in a desperate state of disrepair. Far worse, the roads linking Baghdad to the north pass through areas where cells of the Islamic State group were still active.