The Akkad Center for Economic and Financial Studies participated in the second international conference of the Alfaw Grand port, titled: (Operation of Al-faw grand port and construction the dry channel – future visions and investment opportunities), which was held under the auspices of the General Company for Ports of Iraq – Ministry of Transport for the period from 6-8/12 in the presence of a delegation from the Council Representatives, international, Arab and local official bodies and international companies, in the hall of the Grand Millennium Hotel in Al-Seef in Basra.
This conference came to highlight the importance of Iraq’s strategic location as a connecting point between East and West, the Alfaw Grand port, and the dry channel being built as an investment on an equal footing with oil resources that will change the local and regional economy. The large port of Faw will serve as a starting point for the dry channel linking the ports of Basra and Turkey, which will pass through the governorates of Nasiriyah, Samawah, Karbala, Anbar, and Nineveh.
Iraq will be an essential part of the Silk Road project, and many eyes are directed toward establishing the region’s most important economic and strategic task. How much the dry channel development project is a vital project to the local and regional economy of Iraq and the surrounding area, and it will have a significant impact on the global economy as a whole because of Iraq’s strategic location as a bridge linking the East and the West. The dry channel project will help save a lot of costs and time and save days and thousands of nautical miles.
This project will help ship goods in the Iraqi ports of the Persian Gulf, especially the large Faw seaport, and then transport them via land transport lines to Turkey, and thus Europe is another part of the plan to expand the railway line through Iraq.
Many economists believe that linking the Al-Faw region with Turkey is a strategic project, and its benefits for Iraq are countless. The success of this project will turn Iraq into the second most crucial transit center for European countries (after Turkey). Baiji is now preparing the specific feasibility study for the dry channel design study through the General Railway Company, an institution of the Ministry of Transport. It will submit the first relevant proposal in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Many analysts and economists agree that the large port of Faw will contribute significantly to increasing the state’s general revenues, which is one of the main factors that will help advance sustainable development in Iraq. In addition, the study of the Italian consultant confirms the provision of permanent job opportunities for hundreds of thousands of workforce in all disciplines, which will help ease the heavy burden on the state in appointments and increase the economic income of the citizen.
