OMM Newsroom
The Development Road Project is expected to contribute around $55 billion to Türkiye’s economy over 10 years, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said on Monday, according to Anadolu Agency.
Speaking at a conference in Ankara, Uraloglu said the project would provide employment for an average of 70,000 people annually, strengthen Türkiye’s role in global trade and support Iraq’s economic reconstruction.
The planned corridor would link Iraq’s Grand Faw Port in the Gulf to Europe through Türkiye. It is designed to combine railways and roads with energy transmission lines, fibre-optic infrastructure, and oil and natural gas pipelines.
Uraloglu said the project’s contribution to Türkiye’s economy was forecast at approximately $55 billion over a 10-year period. Production and logistics centres along the route would provide an average of 70,000 jobs each year, he added.
Tensions around the Strait of Hormuz and the Russia-Ukraine war had exposed vulnerabilities in global transport networks, prompting countries to look for safer, shorter and more predictable routes, Uraloglu said.
The Development Road could serve as a strategic alternative that reduces reliance on the Strait of Hormuz, particularly for cargo travelling from Gulf countries to Europe. The route could cut journey times to about 25 days, compared with 45 days via the Cape of Good Hope and 35 days along the Southern Corridor, he said.
Uraloglu described the project as complementary to existing trade networks, including the Middle Corridor, which links China and Central Asia to Europe through the Caspian Sea and Türkiye.
“As Türkiye, located at the heart of the Middle Corridor, managing the Turkish Straits and building the Development Road, we are clearly demonstrating both at the negotiating table and on the ground: There can be no corridor without Türkiye,” he said.
Existing, ongoing and planned Turkish railway lines connecting to the Middle Corridor total 2,156 kilometres (1,340 miles), with completed and planned investments amounting to $47.1 billion, Uraloglu said.
The project could help Iraq diversify its economy away from oil revenues, earn income from transit trade and strengthen its position as a regional commercial hub, the minister said.
Uraloglu referred to agreements signed by Türkiye and Iraq on July 28, saying the countries planned to obtain parliamentary approval before construction begins. The agreements include a memorandum on rail and road transport through the Fishkhabur-Ovakoy border crossing and a framework agreement to develop Iraq’s transport infrastructure in exchange for natural resources.
He also pointed to a recently signed railway cooperation memorandum with Saudi Arabia. Efforts to revive the historic Hejaz Railway would create additional connections from the Gulf through Türkiye to Europe, he said.
“The Development Road Project has the potential to reintegrate the Middle East’s fragmented geoeconomic structure, transform Iraq into one of the crossroads of regional trade and strengthen Türkiye’s position in global connectivity networks,” Uraloglu said.
