ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iraq’s Border Ports Authority on Wednesday announced steps are being taken to activate an Iraqi-Turkish agreement on the landmark Development Road project, eyeing the establishment of the Fishkhabur-Ovakoy border crossing and connecting it to the project.

Head of the Iraqi Border Ports Authority Omar Adnan al-Waeli, who recently led an Iraqi delegation in a visit to Ankara to discuss the initiative, in a meeting addressed “the activation of the Fishkhabur-Ovakoy border crossing and its connection to the Development Road project,” the authority said in a statement.

The delegation held several meetings with the Turkish and Syrian sides in the Turkish capital, the first of which was an Iraqi-Turkish bilateral meeting that “focused on moving to the implementation phase” of the MoU.

The move comes in accordance with a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed July 28 between Iraqi and Turkish transport and infrastructure ministries “regarding rail and road transport via the Fishkhabur-Ovakoy border crossing.”

According to the statement, the MoU provides for coordination between the two sides to establish a new border crossing to increase road and rail transport capacity, cooperation to accelerate the opening of the crossing, and the establishment of a joint committee to monitor implementation.

After nearly eight years without reaching the “required level of progress,” the current phase has witnessed a “tangible acceleration” in procedures, the statement added.

In August, the Iraqi transport ministry said they are preparing to finalize an agreement on the implementation of the project with the Turkish said, noting that the design phase now exceeds 95 percent completion.

In December, Iraq’s transport ministry said that the railway and highway systems of the landmark project are 87 and 73 percent complete, respectively.

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 route will pass through Diwaniyah, Najaf, Karbala, Baghdad, and Mosul before entering Turkey’s Sirnak province and reaching Mersin on the Mediterranean Sea.

The project has generated around 100,000 jobs directly, according to the statement, with over 1.6 million other jobs having been created indirectly as a result of the expansive initiative.