Baghdad concludes 'Faw Port deal' with Daewoo, to be completed in four years

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq agreed on a $ 2.6 billion deal with the South Korean Daewoo Engineering and Construction company to build the first phase of the Faw Port south of the country.

With this deal, the Iraqi government has excluded the Chinese company (CMCS), which was competing with Daewoo in the Faw project, which has faced several obstacles and setbacks that have delayed its implementation since laying the foundation stone in 2008.

Under the contract signed in Baghdad by representatives of the Iraqi Ministry of Transport and the South Korean company, Daewoo will deal with construction work, including building five docks for unloading ships and a container yard.

Reuters quoted Iraq’s director-general at the General Company for Ports, Farhan al-Fartousi, stating that Daewoo would also conduct dredging and drilling work to establish a navigation access channel.

On the sidelines of the contract signing ceremony at the Ministry of Transport headquarters on Wednesday, he added that the first phase would allow the port to receive three million containers. According to the plan, all construction work would be completed within four years.

Currently, Iraq has to rely primarily on the port of Umm Qasr, which is located at the top of the strategic waterway of the Gulf, to receive cargo ships. Iraq seeks to have the Port of Faw deeper, allowing it to receive the largest container ships.

The Port of Faw is of great importance due to its economic benefits, as well as the controversy between Baghdad and Kuwait, which in turn established Mubarak Al-Kabeer port on the opposite side.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany