The United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iraq, Qatar and Türkiye, have signed a quadrilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation on the Development Road project.
Iraq’s PM Muhammed S. Al-Sudani and President of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan witnessed the signing ceremony.
“This MoU focuses on collaboration for the strategic ‘Development Road’ project. The event was attended by members of the four signatory countries,” according to Iraq PM.
The MoU was signed by UAE Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei, Iraq’s Minister of Transport, Razzaq Muhibis, Türkiye’sAbdulkadir Uraloğlu, and Qatar’s Minister of Transport, Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti.
“The outlines for the framework of implementing the Development Road project aim to stimulate economic growth and enhance regional and international cooperation through economic integration. It seeks to create a sustainable economy bridging East and West, increase international trade, facilitate movement and commerce, establish a new competitive transport route, and bolster regional economic prosperity,” added the PM Office statement.
The project is to create a land route and railway extending from Iraq to Turkey and its ports. The road and the railway are 1200km long inside of Iraq for the transporting of goods between Europe and the Gulf countries.
The project’s investment budget stands at roughly $17 billion. The project is to be carried out in three phases, the first to be completed in 2028, the second in 2033, and the third in 2050.