Iraq's Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi inaugurated on Sunday the next phase of an ongoing megaproject to build a new port in the south of the country.
The repeatedly delayed Grand Port of Al Faw, which was first announced as a government project in 2010, is one of several projects that Iraq hopes will create a shorter transportation corridor between the Middle East and Europe, bypassing the Suez Canal, through the eventual expansion of a national rail network.
“The Grand Port of Al Faw project is not only for Basra. It is a strategic project that contributes to the development and reconstruction of Iraq,” Mr Al Kadhimi said during the opening ceremony in the southern city of Basra.
The port will make Iraq “an economic bridge linking it to the world,” he said.
“With action, not words, we are moving together towards a better future that Iraq and our great people deserve,” Mr Al Kadhimi said.
In December, Baghdad signed a $2.63 billion contract with South Korea’s Daewoo Engineering and Construction to complete the first phase of the port.
A 2018 Iraq-World Bank document on Iraq's reconstruction said the remainder of the port would cost $6bn, in addition to at least $1bn already spent.
A breakwater, costing around $1bn, has already been completed and is now the longest breakwater in the world.
Daewoo is expected to handle further construction work that includes building five berths to unload ships and a yard for containers.
Daewoo will carry out dredging and drilling works to create an access navigation channel.
The construction of the next phase of the port is expected to be finished within four years.
For the time being, Iraq depends on the port of Umm Qasr in the south of the country, to receive cargo ships, and a smaller port in the city of Basra.
Umm Qasr port is at the top of the strategic Gulf waterway near Basra but has limited capacity.
The port of Al Faw will be deeper, allowing it to receive the largest container ships.
During his visit to Basra Mr Al Kadhimi met with a group of young protesters near the port.
"The prime minister listened to their proposals and asserted their right to demonstrate provided that this does not threaten public or private property," a statement by his office said.
One of the key demands of the anti-government movement in Basra was the building of the Al Faw Grand Port to provide jobs and trade.
It was part of a wider demonstrations that broke out in central and southern Iraq in late 2019.
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Profile of Bitex UAE
Date of launch: November 2018
Founder: Monark Modi
Based: Business Bay, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: Eight employees
Investors: Self-funded to date with $1m of personal savings
The specs
Engine: 5.0-litre V8
Power: 480hp at 7,250rpm
Torque: 566Nm at 4,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: L/100km
Price: Dh306,495
On sale: now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Akeed
Based: Muscat
Launch year: 2018
Number of employees: 40
Sector: Online food delivery
Funding: Raised $3.2m since inception
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Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
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Toss: India, chose to bat
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Why seagrass matters
- Carbon sink: Seagrass sequesters carbon up to 35X faster than tropical rainforests
- Marine nursery: Crucial habitat for juvenile fish, crustations, and invertebrates
- Biodiversity: Support species like sea turtles, dugongs, and seabirds
- Coastal protection: Reduce erosion and improve water quality
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- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
The bio
Job: Coder, website designer and chief executive, Trinet solutions
School: Year 8 pupil at Elite English School in Abu Hail, Deira
Role Models: Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk
Dream City: San Francisco
Hometown: Dubai
City of birth: Thiruvilla, Kerala
