South Korean contractor to sign $7bn housing contract in Iraq

17 May 2012

Hanwha Engineering & Construction Corporation to build 100,000 housing units

Iraq’s National Investment Commission (NIC) is poised to sign a $7bn contract with South Korea’s Hanwha Engineering & Construction Corporation to build 100,000 houses throughout the country.

The NIC is also reportedly due to sign a contract with the UAE-based Bloom Properties to develop 40,000 houses in the Karbala province, according to international news reports.

The housing schemes are part of Iraq’s plans to solve the current housing crisis in the country. Estimates of the current housing shortfall range from 2-3.5 million homes and the demand is growing.

In Iraq’s National Development Plan (NDP) for 2010-14, the government allocated $31.6bn, 17 per cent of the $186bn of total planned investment, towards increasing housing stock and regenerating dilapidated buildings. The programme will be funded through government and private investment.

In April, Jordanian contractor Aphrodite Trading Company was awarded an estimated $240m contract to build 2,500 houses in Tikrit, northern Iraq. The Jordanian contractor will build the villas over a three-year period.

In March, the Basra Investment Commission awarded a $245m contract to the local contractor Al-Saqr al-Jareh to build 1,857 units on the outskirts of Basra in southern Iraq

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