Iraq is looking for investors for several rail, port and airport schemes as it prepares to recover from the ongoing conflict and cope with the impact of low oil prices.

The projects include the 700-kilometre mainline railway to link Baghdad and Basra via Babylon, Karbala and Najaf, the $10bn-$12bn Baghdad Metro, the Grand Al-Faw port, and several airports in the central region of the country, including Diwaniyah, Nassiriya and Wasit.

The feasibility study and design for most of these schemes have been completed, according to Hassan al-Moussa al-Moussawi from the Ministry of Transport.

Eroding revenues from low oil prices and a protracted war that stretched over several decades have greatly limited the government’s ability to fund infrastructure projects. “We are spending $1bn a day on the war,” says Al-Moussawi.

Despite the government’s fiscal constraints, it funded the first phase of the $8.4bn Grand Al-Faw port project, which entailed the construction of breakwater infrastructure. “We are ready to move to the next phase of the port project if we find investors,” Al-Moussawi tells MEED.

Iraq envisages the Grand Al-Faw port as connecting maritime trade between China and the Far East to Turkey and Europe. “The port will help shrink the world route for container and liquid cargo,” says Al-Moussawi

The government executive adds that they are confident they can defeat the jihadist group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (Isis) with the help of its Western allies “soon”, which should increase the confidence of potential investors in its transport and infrastructure projects.

In total, Al-Moussawi says there is an opportunity in the future to build about 3,000 kilometres of rail with Iraq. He is also pushing for interconnectivity with the GCC railway network, citing that a distance of only 65km separates Iraq and the planned termination point of the GCC railway from Kuwait.