ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al Sudani on Saturday oversaw the signing of a number of agreements worth over a billion dollars between the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) and several Iraqi companies, with over $600 million set to be invested in Iraq’s Umm Qasr Port.

The IFC’s investment into developing the key strategic port in Basra consists of two agreements: “a contract to invest in associated gas and develop Umm Qasr Port facilities with Basrah Gas Company, worth $500 million,” and another worth $125 million with Alloren Investment that aims to finance “container handling equipment and storage yard,” according to a statement by the Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

The contracts were signed during a ceremony to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the IFC's presence in Iraq.

In addition to the Umm Qasr port, several other agreements were also signed to invest in Iraq with other companies, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, notably, a 250-million-dollar agreement with Al Muhaidib Group in the field of cement and lubricating oil production.

The ceremony also saw a 65-million-dollar deal with the Kurdistan Region’s Hiwa Rauf group to finance “the first phase” of a green residential real estate development project in Sulaimani, the statement further added.

Sudani in April met with World Bank Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa Ousmane Dione, whereby he praised the role of the World Bank and underscored the importance of the bank providing financial support to the Iraqi private sector through the IFC.

Previous works in Iraq by the company include a “$360 million loan to Basrah Gas Company for one of the largest gas flaring reduction projects in the world,” according to the corporation’s official website, as well as a "$125 million financing package for a modern shipping terminal in Umm Qasr Port in Basra."

Iraq in recent years has begun making serious efforts to position itself as a trade hub, evident in the myriad large-scale projects to revamp its trade sector, such as the multi-billion-dollar Development Road Project, building the Grand Faw Port, and the investment into the Umm Qasr Port.

The Development Road is a massive, multi-billion-dollar project that entails the expansion of railways, roads, and ports, shortening travel time between Asia and Europe and linking the Grand Faw Port in southern Iraq to the Turkish border. The project is set to create hundreds of thousands of jobs and enhance Iraq’s geopolitical status.

Turkish Minister of Trade Omer Bolat stated in April that the completion of the Development Road project will facilitate the intercontinental transport of goods in eight to ten days, saying that the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE’s) port management authorities had told him that they had “unloaded cargo from Izmir to the port of Umm Qasr, Iraq, by road, in eight days,” a process that would have otherwise taken 28 days, he noted.