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Iraq’s Ministry of Transport and the General Company for Airport & Air Navigation Services have invited companies to prequalify for a contract to develop Baghdad International airport on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis.

The notice was issued in mid-July and the deadline for prequalification submission is 12 September.

The qualified companies will be able to participate in the Request for Proposals (RFP) process, the notice for which is expected to be issued by the end of this year.

The project involves rehabilitating, expanding, financing, operating and maintaining the airport. It is the first airport PPP project to be launched in Iraq.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is the project’s lead transaction adviser.

Iraq is already developing the Baghdad and Najaf-Karbala metro projects using a similar PPP model.

In May, MEED reported that Iraq’s National Investment Commission (NIC) had received bids for the contract to develop and operate the estimated $2.5bn Baghdad Metro.

In a statement to local media on 14 May, the NIC said it had opened the bids on 11 May.

The metro projects will be developed using a design, build, operate, maintain, finance and transfer model.

Malaysian consulting firms ConsultantHSS and HSS Engineering are working with the client on the Baghdad and Najaf-Karbala metro projects.