The development of Iraq’s infrastructure is crucial for the country’s future economic growth after years of war and political instability. Baghdad has earmarked $16.7bn for investment in the transport and communications sector between 2010 and 2014, which is 9 per cent of the $186bn budgeted in the five-year National Development Plan.

Transport is of [great] importance as Iraq is a very rich country and has a lot of potential [with its] natural resources

Hadi Farhan al-Amiri, Transport Minister

The first step is to prepare a transport masterplan that maps out how the plan will be funded and where the money will be spent. The Ministry of Construction & Housing (MCH) invited consultants to prequalify by 20 February for a project to prepare a masterplan covering roads, railways, ports, aviation and logistics. The contract will be awarded in June and work is expected to take 15 months to complete.

Transport crucial

“Transport is of paramount importance,” Transport Minister Hadi Farhan al-Amiri tells MEED. “Most of the transport infrastructure has been significantly damaged in previous conflicts. Iraq is a very rich country and has a lot of potential [with its] natural resources, rivers, fertile lands and holy shrines. It is the cradle of civilisation.”

The objectives of Iraq’s transport development plan will address the capacity, integration and security of the existing network, as well as developing cargo transport to boost the sector’s contribution to gross domestic product.

Roads must be upgraded to adequately support planned megaprojects. A near total cessation of railroad activities after the 2003 US invasion, along with reliance on the road network to transport cargo, has further burdened the network. The total length of Iraq’s roads, excluding municipalities and those found in Baghdad, is about 48,000 kilometres. This comprises 1,084km of highways, 11,000km of arterial roads, 10,000km of rural roads, 11,000km of border roads and 15,200km of secondary roads.

This is inadequate, particularly with respect to rural roads. According to international standards, each 100 inhabitants in a square km need 1km of roads within that area; road density in Iraq stands at 0.18km a sq km. “It’s currently impossible to know exactly the number of kilometres [of roads] that will be built under the new masterplan,” says Amer Ahmed Saeed, head of the project management unit at the MCH. “It depends on the output of the study and we will finance the project accordingly.” Estimating the scope of road rehabilitation also depends on the results of the study.

What is clear is that initial efforts will focus on improving the condition of the current road network. Authorities will look to expand services by building new roads, including highways and bypass roads to link urban centres and reduce congestion in major cities.

Iraq’s rail network opened in 1914, but is now dilapidated. Large portions are outdated and have defective signalling and communications systems. Lines in operation include Baghdad-Basra, Baghdad-Samarra, Mosul-Rabia and Baghdad-Fallujah. These lines use a new wireless communication system. Work is also underway to double the single-track Baghdad-Basra line, the Baghdad-Mosul line and the Hammam al-Ali-Rabia line.

Baghdad metro

The construction of the Baghdad metro remains the primary solution to the lack of public transport services in the capital. Preliminary engineering has now commenced, which is the first real sign of progress since the metro was proposed in the 1970s. “We need a huge amount of money [to execute all the projects],” says Al-Amiri. “We need more than $30bn just for railway development. Public-private partnerships are one way to do this.”

France’s Alstom also signed an agreement last year with Baghdad Municipality to discuss a contract to build the estimated $600m Baghdad elevated train project. Discussions are underway about restructuring the General Authority for the Implementation of Railroad Projects so that it can take on the development of these and other megaprojects.

There are plans to install a nationwide freight railway to serve the ports and act as a trade bridge to Europe and the Gulf. As a result of economic sanctions and war damage, port machinery is largely obsolete and much of the equipment is non-operational.

Basra is Iraq’s only international port and Umm Qasr is its only deep-sea facility. Currently, only four commercial ports and two platforms can export oil. There are 48 commercial port docks with a capacity of 17.5 million tonnes a year (t/y). Of these, 43 docks are currently operational with a capacity of 15.9 million t/y. However, real annual traffic is just 11.8 million t/y, meaning there is significant unused capacity still available.

Shipwreck hazards to Iraq port

Vessels sunk in the war hinder the entry of large ships and make maintenance and dredging operations more difficult. The masterplan’s objectives call for the removal of wrecks to build the $8.8bn Grand Faw port, which will be the country’s largest when completed. The State Ports Company says the facility’s ultimate capacity will be 99 million t/y.

Iraq’s ports must contend with other massive developments across the Gulf, such as those located in Dubai, Doha, Salalah and Jeddah, as well as a lack of investment. Between 2004 and 2008, the total budget for port activities in Iraq was no more than ID178bn ($153m). Only 30 per cent of this value was spent.

Although it has progressed more than other sectors, the country’s aviation and airports industry also requires considerable investment. Iraq currently operates six international airports, located in Baghdad, Mosul, Basra, Erbil, Sulaimaniyah and Najaf. Erbil airport has already been expanded and $50bn-worth of plans are in place for Baghdad airport.

French consultancy ADPi is currently reviewing the masterplan for airports in Mosul, Baghdad and Basra. This covers the rehabilitation of systems and the buildings at Baghdad airport, the renovation of the terminal at Basra airport and the construction of a new passenger terminal and extension of the runway at Mosul airport. It is also carrying out the site survey for a greenfield airport in Duhok.

There are also plans to build the Middle Euphrates International Airport between Karbala and Najaf. This will cater to the millions of religious tourists who visit the region each year. Existing infrastructure in Karbala and Najaf struggles to accommodate these numbers.

Privatisation key to Iraq’s transport sector

The challenges with executing major projects across Iraq’s transport sector are well documented. In the long term, Iraq says it needs to privatise public transportation systems. Executing the many planned transport projects will require both expertise and funding from the private sector, but whether this will be forthcoming remains uncertain.

The overall task is enormous and many doubt Iraq has the capability to execute it. But years of living with war and decrepit infrastructure means the country has very little to lose and much to gain.