By Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj
Sulaimani, Iraqi Kurdistan — Kurdish Policy Analysis
The World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved yesterday a US$900 million financing package for a new project to help improve Iraq’s road infrastructure, make travel safer and more reliable, and create opportunities for people and businesses across the country. The Iraq Transport Economic Corridors (ITREC) project will support strategic investments in key road corridors that are critical to domestic mobility, regional integration, and long-term economic growth.
Road transport accounts for more than 90 percent of transportation activity in Iraq, yet much of the country’s road network remains underdeveloped and vulnerable to deterioration, climate pressures, and road safety risks. Although most of the network is paved, a large share is estimated to be in moderate to poor condition, constraining trade, access to services, and economic opportunity. At the same time, the sector is an important source of employment, with road construction and rehabilitation generating jobs and supporting broader economic activity.
The Iraq Transport Economic Corridors project will focus on priority investments along two strategic axes: a north-south corridor linking Baghdad to the Turkish border through Expressway 2 (E2), and an east-west corridor along Expressway 1 (E1) connecting Baghdad with Syria and Jordan. In its first phase, the program will finance the rehabilitation of key segments of E1, upgrades to selected roads in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and the construction of an initial section of E2. Together, these investments will strengthen the operation and climate resilience of Iraq’s national road network and lay the foundation for future phases that can help mobilize private capital and expand the broader transport corridor agenda.
The ITREC program is expected to benefit approximately 7.9 million people living along new or improved roadways, including around 3.0 million women and 1.5 million youth. These benefits will be felt across diverse regions of Iraq, from Baghdad to the Kurdistan Region and along cross-border corridors with Jordan, Syria and Türkiye. By improving connections between major population centers, industrial and agricultural areas, and religious tourism destinations, the project is expected to reduce travel times and transport costs, improve freight efficiency, and ease congestion on secondary and urban roads. The investments are also expected to enhance road safety, improve maintenance practices, and support economic diversification and access in sectors such as tourism, agriculture, health, and manufacturing.
"Roads are the backbone of the Iraq's transport system and key to broader connectivity and job creation," said Jean-Christophe Carret, World Bank Middle East Division Director. "The ITREC project will help Iraq address critical infrastructure gaps. By investing in strategic economic corridors, the project will connect people to markets and services, strengthen regional and economic integration, and contribute to more inclusive and sustainable growth."
The ITREC Project is designed as the first in a series of projects that will aim to address the challenges facing Iraq’s road sector in a sequenced approach to support a longterm reform and investment program. The results of pilot activities achieved under the first project will be evaluated and their design adjusted to inform future investments.
Beyond physical investments, the project will support institutional strengthening and the preparation of future interventions to modernize Iraq’s road sector. This includes support for better road safety practices, climate-resilient asset management, and transport sector reforms to improve planning, financing, and long-term sustainability. The project will also support performance-based road maintenance contracts, an enabling environment for sustainable partnerships with the private sector and explore revenue generating opportunities. The project will be implemented by the Roads and Bridges Directorate under the Ministry of Construction, Housing, and Public Municipalities, with strategic oversight from a high-level steering committee including key national institutions and representatives from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
The World Bank has signed off on a $900 million financing package to enhance Iraq and the Kurdistan Region’s road infrastructure, aiming to facilitate safer traveling and support key road corridors for domestic mobility and regional connectivity.
In a statement released on Friday, the bank said its Board of Executive Directors approved the package on Thursday, noting that roads account for 90 percent of transportation in Iraq, though they remain “underdeveloped and vulnerable to deterioration, climate pressures, and road safety risks.”
“Although most of the network is paved, a large share is estimated to be in moderate to poor condition, constraining trade, access to services, and economic opportunity. At the same time, the sector is an important source of employment, with road construction and rehabilitation generating jobs and supporting broader economic activity,” the statement added.
The project will involve a north-south corridor called Expressway 1 (E1), linking Baghdad to the Turkish border through the Kurdistan Region, and another east-west corridor called Expressway (E2), linking Baghdad with Syria and Jordan.
The roads will run 50 kilometers through Sulaimani province and 22 kilometers through Duhok province, according to the Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Construction and Housing.
The ministry noted that the Kurdistan Region's share of the package is $80 million, adding that the approval comes following several meetings by its minister Dana Abdulkarim in Washington.
“Together, these investments will strengthen the operation and climate resilience of Iraq’s national road network and lay the foundation for future phases that can help mobilize private capital and expand the broader transport corridor agenda,” the bank said.
“The investments are also expected to enhance road safety, improve maintenance practices, and support economic diversification and access in sectors such as tourism, agriculture, health, and manufacturing.”
It is also expected to benefit an estimated 7.9 million people living close to the roads, according to the bank.
Poor road conditions, excessive speeding, and failure to abide by traffic signs, rules, and regulations are the key causes of fatal car accidents in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.
Car accidents are a major cause of death in Iraq due to the poor state of roads.
Around 1.1 million people die each year as a result of road traffic accidents globally, with over 90 percent of the accidents occurring in low and middle-income countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
During the tenure of the ninth Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) cabinet under Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, over 700 road projects have been implemented as the government has tried to revamp the traffic sector.
#Iraq #WorldBank #DevelopmentRoad #Infrastructure #EconomicDevelopment #Connectivity #TradeCorridors #MiddleEast #JobCreation #Transportation #Investment #Baghdad #RegionalTrade #Geopolitics
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