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Iraq to tender Europe road packages by the end of 2025

29 July 2025

Iraq has announced that it expects to float the first tenders by the end of this year for the Development Road project, which will link Iraq to Europe via Turkiye.

Local media reports quoted Maytham Safi, information director at Iraq’s Transport Ministry, as saying: “The project comprises 15 industrial and economic zones and will be offered in several packages to the market.”

Safi added that the initial designs for the project have been completed, and that it is now in the detailed design phase.

In March, MEED reported that design work on the rail component of the project is expected to be completed by August.

Iraq signed an agreement with Italy’s BTP Infrastrutture in November 2024 for the preparation of the technical and economic feasibility study and design of the first phase of the rail element of the project, which also includes a parallel motorway.

In January, Iraqi officials met a delegation from the World Bank to discuss the scope of financing arrangements for the multibillion-dollar Development Road project.

The officials discussed the bank’s support for rehabilitating the existing railway linking southern Iraq to the north, and onwards to Turkiye, as part of the Development Road project.

The project includes a 1,200-kilometre railway and a highway linking Iraq’s Faw port to Europe via Turkiye. It is expected to cost about $17bn.

In August last year, Turkiye announced that it would hold a meeting with officials from Iraq, Qatar and the UAE to discuss the project. This followed the signing of a memorandum of understanding in April to establish a framework for its implementation.

In May, it was announced that Iraq’s Transport Ministry had appointed US-based management consulting firm Oliver Wyman to provide consultancy services for the project.

Development road project

The Development Road project forms part of Iraq’s efforts to improve its geopolitical status as a new trade corridor and generate fresh sources of financial income, reducing the country’s reliance on hydrocarbons.

It involves the development of a 1,200km road and a dual rail line for passenger and cargo trains.

According to the plan, the road project will begin at Faw port, pass through 10 governorates and end at Faysh Khabur on the border of Iraq and Turkiye, before connecting to Turkish railway and highway networks.

By 2028, the freight network’s transport capacity is expected to reach 3.5 million containers and 22 million tonnes of bulk cargo annually, according to an official statement by Younis Khaled, director general of the General Company for Iraqi Railways.

This is expected to increase to 7.5 million containers and 33 million tonnes of cargo by 2038, and to about 40 million tonnes of cargo by 2050.

The initial capacity of the high-speed train is expected to be 13.8 million passengers a year.

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Yasir Iqbal

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