Iraq receives investment bids for Faw Port project: report

Iraq has received bids from companies from China and other countries for investment in the construction of Faw Port, slated to be the world's third largest commercial port, an Iraqi news network reported on Thursday.

"We have received a number of applications from foreign companies to execute the Faw Project on an investment basis,' Omran Radi, director general of the state-owned General company for ports of Iraq, told Al-Sumaria News.

"The deadline for receiving applications expires at the end of June but it may be extended by the Transport Ministry to allow more firms to apply."

Iraq's cabinet was reported on Wednesday to have approved the awarding of the project to construct the infrastructure of the port on the southern Faw Peninsula. Al-Sumaria said the awarding would be on the basis of payment for contractors after completing the project because of budget constraints.

Radi said applicants include companies from China, Greece and Spain, adding that the negotiation with these firms focused on a "formula for investment in the project."

Iraqi officials said last year an Italian firm had already prepared the designs for the Faw project, which will cost more than seven billion dollars and will have an annual handling capacity of 99 million tonnes per year.

The port will have a 39-km container quay and another 2-km berth, besides a container warehouse with an area of more than one million square metres.