Iraq Vision 2050: Road Project to drive 20% of Asia–Europe flows

Shafaq News – Baghdad

Iraq plans to channel 20 percent of Asia–Europe trade through its territory under the $17 billion Development Road Project, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announced on Saturday.

Unveiling Iraq Vision 2050 in Baghdad, al-Sudani forecast that the project, centered on the Grand al-Faw Port in southern Iraq and linking the Gulf to Europe via rail and highway corridors through Turkiye, would create 1.5 million knowledge-based and entrepreneurial jobs for Iraqi youth.

Read more: Iraq’s Development Road: Geopolitics, rentierism, and broader connectivity

He described the long-term vision as a pathway to move beyond oil dependency and build a diversified economy, underlining that the plan aims to achieve 70 percent self-sufficiency in food, water, and energy through sustainable agriculture and advanced industries.

“This strategy involves everyone—the state with its institutions, the private sector, universities, civil society, and the youth,” al-Sudani declared. “It is a message to the world that Iraq has decided to rise and reclaim its historical role as a productive, influential power leading toward peace, stability, and prosperity.”