Serbia included in Iraq’s infrastructure project of USD 17 billion which will connect Asia with Europe?

Turkey has formed a four-nation council with Hungary, Bulgaria, and Serbia to facilitate the integration of Iraq’s USD 17 billion Development Road multimodal project into Europe.

This, as reported by the Zawya portal for news from the Middle East and Africa, has been confirmed by Iraq's Minister of Transport Razzaq Muhibis Muhibis in a statement to the Iraqi News Agency (INA).

This council complements an existing partnership constituted for the project involving Iraq, Turkey, Qatar, and the UAE, he said, adding that OPEC member remains open to any country wishing to join the initiative.

The Development Road will stretch from Al Faw Port, under construction in South Iraq, to the country's border with Turkey, providing a transit route to Europe.

Muhibis said five berths have been completed at Al Faw Port while related infrastructure projects are 75 percent complete.

He said initial designs for the railway segment are complete, with final designs now underway. The initial highway design is 84 percent finished, and feasibility studies and soil testing have been completed over more than 1,000 kilometers.

Transport ministers from Iraq, Turkey, Qatar, and the UAE met in Baghdad last week to coordinate governance and long-term work plan to drive the Development Road project forward. Previously, the four countries signed the memorandum of understanding for cooperation on the project of Iraq’s Development Road during the visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Baghdad.

This project entails the construction of 1,000 kilometers of rail and road infrastructure in order for Turkey to connect with the Al Faw Port in Iraq. The plan is for the construction of this corridor, which is also called “the new silk road”, because many see it as a rival to the Chinese “Belt and Road” initiative, to be completed next year.

Industrial complexes and logistics hubs should also be built on the corridor which is seen as the shortest transport link between Asia, the Middle East and Europe, and connecting with oil and gas pipelines on the route is not excluded either.

Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani emphasized in an interview with Anadolu this summer that the Development Road Project will connect the eastern world to Europe through Iraq and Turkey.

– For centuries, and I am not exaggerating when I say since prehistoric times, Mesopotamia has been a trade corridor, a plain favored by trade caravans for traversing its routes and engaging in trade with its cities and urban centers – Mohammed Shia Al Sudani said and added that the Development Road is fundamentally a restoration of this historical role, linking Al Faw Port to the Turkish border.

Where is Serbia in all this?

Certain analysts see the Development Road project as the reincarnation of the Baghdad Railroad from the 19th century. That railroad, which was 1,600 km long and went from Constantinople to Baghdad, was built to link Berlin with the Persian Gulf. The construction of the railroad, which was started by Turkey in 1888, was financed by the German Empire, that is, its banks and companies, and completed by Syria and Iraq in 1940. Today, the majority of the railroad is not in use.

B. P.

Ministry of Transport of Iraq

Government of Iraq

Razzaq Muhibis Muhibis

Mohammed Shia Al Sudani

Boško Jovanović

Iraq Development Road

Al Faw Port

four nations council

Baghdad Railroad