Report: "Iraqi Development Road" Contributes To Reduce Dependence Of Iraqi Economy On Oil
Istanbul / NINA /- A report published today by the Turkish Anatolia News Agency, in which it relied on the opinions of experts in development economics, confirmed that "the Development Road will contribute significantly to the dependence of the development economy in Iraq on oil and will strengthen the status of Iraq and Turkey as they are two central countries in the field of energy.
The report stated that "this development project, which includes the land and railway roads extending from Iraq to Turkey and its ports, is described as "the basis of a sustainable non-oil economy", as it allows Turkey to transfer oil and natural gas from Iraq to global markets.
Iraq aims from this project, also known as the "Iraqi Silk Road", to shorten the travel time between Asia and Europe via Turkey, as well as its desire to become a transit center in the region and contribute to conducting trade faster and more efficiently, and to establish a competitive route to the Suez Canal.
The project connects the port of Faw in the Arabian Gulf, which is scheduled to be the largest port in the Middle East (planned for completion in 2025), with Turkey via railways and highways.
The investment budget for the project is about $17 billion, provided that it will be completed in three phases, the first ending in 2028, the second in 2033, and the third in 2050.
"The Iraqi government put the great port of Faw on its agenda in 2005, but it was stopped due to the economic crisis and security problems in the country," Ali Samin, founder of the Middle East, Eurasia, Asia and Pacific Studies Platform, said.
He added, "The port is of importance to the Iraqi economy, as it will reduce the dependence of Iraq's national income on oil from 60 to 40 percent," and it will be an alternative to Iraq whose income depends on oil only.
He stated that with the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Russia "has lost its position as a reliable supplier of energy," while "European actors are reviewing their strategies to secure their energy needs."
He explained that the project would "contribute to Turkey's economic growth and enhance its competitiveness in the energy sector."
He pointed to the outbreak of a global controversy over the way to deliver Qatari LNG to Europe when the Russian-Ukrainian war began in February 2022. He said: “The great port of Faw presents itself as a better alternative for transporting Qatari gas to Europe through Iraqi territory, due to its economic feasibility with a shorter path"
The port of Faw also increases, according to Samin, "Turkey's energy export potential," saying: "Turkey can transfer Iraqi energy resources to global markets and play an active role in energy trade."
For his part, Wathiq Al-Saadoun, an expert on Iraq affairs at the Middle East Studies Center said, "Advancing strategic economic cooperation between Iraq and Turkey through the development road project will raise the two countries to an integrated leading role in global trade and energy transmission lines."
He added, "With its advanced transport lines, Turkey will be Iraq's gateway to Europe, and thus the two countries will form a bridge between Europe and Asia."
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Prime Minister Muhammad al-Sudani during an official visit to Ankara last March, and Erdogan said during a press conference at the end of the meeting at the time: "We confirmed our intention to work together to complete the development road project aimed at building a land transport corridor and a railway that extends from Basra to the Turkish border.
He added, "We have taken a serious step that shows our will to work together to achieve this goal, through the Ankara Declaration, which we agreed upon, and that the development road is not only an important strategic project for Turkey and Iraq, but for the entire region."
He explained that "millions of people in large areas from Europe to the Gulf will benefit from the added value that will emerge with the construction of this road."
He also said, "This project will enhance regional cooperation, develop our trade, and strengthen our human relations, and we realize that other brotherly countries are also interested in this project. I am confident that with their participation, we will be able to transform the development road project into the new Silk Road for our region."
The idea of the project is old, as it dates back to an agreement between the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II (1842-1918) and the German Emperor Wilhelm II (1859-1941) to complete the Berlin-Baghdad-Basra railway project.
According to a previous article by the Iraqi historian Ibrahim Al-Allaf, in 1899 Germany was able to obtain a concession from Sultan Abdul Hamid II, according to which they could extend the Anatolian Railway from Istanbul to the city of Mosul (in northern Iraq) and from there to Baghdad and Basra, as it was also decided that this would end line in Kuwait.
Al-Allaf indicated that the railway reached the city of Samarra (south of Baghdad), but work on it stopped in 1914, due to the outbreak of World War I (1914-1918)./ End
