Transportation ministry tenders airport to foreign investment
28/06/2012 17:00
BAGHDAD, June 28 (AKnews) – The Iraqi Transport Ministry is tendering a $1.5 billion airport in the central province of Karbala to foreign investment.
The design of the Furat al-Awsat Airport is ready, and upon completion by 2015, it will have the capacity of 20 million passengers per year, according to the Transport Minister Hadi al-Amiri.
The airport will cover an area of 45 square kilometers.
The Minister told a conference attended by foreign investors held in Baghdad Airport on Thursday that “The Ministry of Transportation is giving priority to the construction of Furat al-Awsat Airpot”
“The airport will have the capacity for the largest number of tourists to the religious shrines [in Karbala]. The designs are ready and will be showed to the international companies, and in case there is no investor, then the Ministry of Transportation will take on its construction”
Karbala houses the shrine of Imam Hussein, grandson of the prophet of Islam which attracts millions of Shiite Muslims from in and outside the country.
The construction of the airport is also expected to create many jobs for the young Iraqi workforce, the minister said.
Moreover, “it will also play a vital role in reviving the economy of Iraq and will support trade and tourist movement in the central provinces”
By Yazn al-Shammari
RY/AKnews
