The Ministry of Transport revealed, on Sunday, the details of important discussions with its Turkish counterpart on the Path of Development, where the two sides reviewed the importance, size and sustainability of the project.
The Ministry said in a statement, "These discussions, which took place in the presence of the representative of the Iraqi Embassy in Ankara, Arkan al-Bayati, pave the way for prospective bilateral agreements under the supervision of Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa al-Sudani."
It added, "An Iraqi technical delegation from the Ministry of Transport, headed by the Director General of the General Company for Railways, Younis Al-Kaabi, accompanied by a representative of the Italian consulting company, visited the Turkish capital, Ankara, and held important and extensive discussions with officials of the Turkish Ministry of Transport, regarding the development road project and its economic importance for Iraq and Turkey, the countries of the region and the world.
"The government of his country attaches great importance to the development road project, and is willing to provide all kinds of support, including construction, courses, systems, and others in the railway sector," said Hassan Bezouk, Director of the Turkish Railways Department, according to the statement.
While the Iraqi delegation reviewed the importance, size and sustainability of the project, which is directly supervised by the Prime Minister, Muhammad Shiaa al-Sudani, the delegation also presented to the Turkish side the studies on the road.
Al-Kaabi discussed with his Turkish counterpart the process of linking the two countries, including the height and coordinates involved in that process, as well as reviewing current levels, topographical surveys and soil investigations in that region.
The Iraqi delegation agreed with the Turkish side to conduct a field visit to the linking point between the two countries, which is located in Fishkhabour, and called on the Turkish side to share soil surveys and site studies between the two sides to keep pace with the speed of the Iraqi side's work.
For its part, the Turkish side confirmed its initiation of rapid action to meet the specifications presented by the Iraqi delegation. The Iraqi delegation also demanded, according to the statement, the Turkish side to "find a railway network that is suitable for the model to be implemented by the Iraqi government."
The Turkish side stated that it had begun to extend railways with a length of 133 km, linking the modern railway line of the Iraqi-Turkish border with the Turkish railways, which guarantees the linking of the great port of Faw with Europe.
According to the statement, the two sides agreed to "determine a joint working mechanism in addition to exchanging experiences and a joint focus on the border link point in the town of Fishkhabour."/ End
Source: National Iraqi News Agency