Iraqi railways integral to Development Road to pass through Kurdistan Region: Minister

Shafaq News/ On Thursday, The Kurdistan Region's Minister of Transport and Communications, Ano Jawhar Abdoka, announced that the Development Road project will traverse the Kurdistan Region on its way to Turkiye and Europe.

This statement was made during a joint press conference with Youssef Al-Kaabi, the Director General of Iraqi Railways.

The conference, held in Erbil, included delegations from the Kurdistan Ministry of Transport, the Iraqi Ministry of Transport, and an Italian consulting firm to deliberate on the Development Road's route.

Abdoka revealed that the Iraqi Ministry of Transport delegation "had endorsed the Kurdish government's proposal for the Development Road project to pass through Kurdistan," highlighting that this route would shorten the distance by 32 kilometers, making the project more cost-effective and secure.

In turn, Al-Kaabi detailed that the Development Road project begins at the port of Al-Faw in Basra, extends to Nineveh Governorate for 1,200 kilometers, then continues from northern Nineveh through the Kurdistan Region to the Iraqi-Turkish border, noting that the project was nearing its final stages before implementation.

The Development Road project, a significant road and railway infrastructure extending from Iraq to Turkiye and its ports, spans 1,200 kilometers within Iraq. It is designed to facilitate the transportation of goods between Europe and the Gulf countries.

With an estimated investment budget of approximately $17 billion, the project allocates $6.5 billion for the highway and $10.5 billion for the electric railway. It is slated for completion in three phases: the first phase by 2028, the second by 2033, and the final phase by 2050.

The project is anticipated to generate around 100,000 job opportunities in its first phase, with projections of creating one million jobs upon its completion.