Shafaq News/ Safeen Dizayee, Head of External Relations for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), confirmed on Thursday that the KRG fully supports the vital Development Road project connecting Iraq, Turkiye, and Europe, emphasizing that the project should benefit all Iraqis and neighboring countries.

Dizayee's remarks come as Iraqi Transport Minister Razzaq Muhibis Al-Saadawi arrived in Istanbul on Wednesday to participate in a quadripartite ministerial meeting concerning the project. The meeting at Istanbul's Dolmabahçe Palace will include representatives from Iraq, Turkiye, Qatar, and the UAE.

The American site "Al-Monitor" reported that the project, which aims to link Basra to Turkiye and beyond, was officially endorsed during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's visit to Baghdad in April.

The project, estimated at $20 billion, includes a 1,200-kilometer road and railway network designed to facilitate goods transport between Europe and the Gulf countries.

The project's investment budget stands at approximately $17 billion, with $6.5 billion allocated for the highway and $10.5 billion for the electrified railway. It will be implemented in three phases, with the first phase expected to be completed by 2028, the second by 2033, and the final by 2050. The project is anticipated to create 100,000 jobs initially, with a total of one million jobs upon completion.