Development Road could create 70,000 jobs a year, Türkiye says

Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said Monday that Türkiye expects the Development Road, a planned trade corridor linking the Persian Gulf to Europe through Iraq, to add about $55 billion to its economy over 10 years once completed. The project should also create jobs for roughly 70,000 people a year, he said at a conference in Ankara.

Cargo leaving Iraq's Faw Port would travel about 1,200 kilometers by rail to Ovaköy, a crossing on the Türkiye-Iraq border, before continuing toward Europe. The initiative was unveiled in May 2023 and is estimated to cost $20 billion. Uraloğlu said transit from the Gulf to Europe would fall to about 25 days, compared with 45 days around the Cape of Good Hope.

Officials have repeatedly tied the project to instability around the Strait of Hormuz. Uraloğlu said the project would be started quickly after the war ends, and that lower logistics costs would make Turkish exporters more competitive.