The Grand Faw Port is a port under construction on the coast of Iraq, near the city of Al-Faw.
The development site sits on the country’s only coast, at the northern tip of the Persian Gulf, and the port is expected to have a capacity of a whopping 100 million tons of cargo per year, making it one of the biggest ports in the entire Gulf.
The mega-project’s first phase of construction is expected to be completed this year and cost just under $5 billion, which is equivalent to approximately £4 billion.
The port is meant to be the southern terminal of the Iraq Development Road, an undergoing project that will connect Asia with Europe through a network of railways, roads, ports and cities.
It is also planned to be one of the largest ports in the world and the largest in the Middle East, strengthing the country’s geographical position not only in the region but across the entire globe.
The proposals for the project dates right back to after the WWII but was then re-visited in the seventies before the first serious and operational steps were taken in the eighties. However, after the Iran-Iraq war, the project was put to a stop.
After the military invasion Iraq led by the US and their allies, as well as the collapse of the previous regime, major investment companies travelled to Iraq to re-propose the implemention of the project we see being worked on today.
Originally, the port was meant to be completed with operation starting by 2038, but the Ministry of Transport turned down the idea and made a series of design changes.
After the countless setbacks, the project was officially proposed and announced in 2010 and in 2020, Iraq’s Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi launched the second phase of the port.
The Great Faw Port is planned to be connected to the Turkish Border by the Iraq Development Road project signed between Iraq, Turkey, Qatar and the UAE.
The next phases of the build are expected to be completed in 2045, where the port will boast 100 berths. Once completed the Iraqi goverment hope that it’ll act as a major hub between Asia and Europe.