UPDATE 1-Iraq to sign $2.625 bln Grand Faw port contract with S.Korea s Daewoo Reuters 12/23/2020
By Aref Mohammed
BASRA, Iraq, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Iraq s government has agreed to sign a $2.625 billion contract with South Korea s Daewoo Engineering & Construction (047040.KS) to build the first phase of a giant commodities port in the south of the country, a port manager said on Wednesday.
The long-planned and repeatedly delayed Grand Faw port is one of several projects that Iraq hopes will create a shorter transportation corridor between the Middle East and Europe, bypassing the Suez Canal.
Under the contract, expected to be signed on Sunday, Daewoo E&C will handle construction works that include building five berths to unload ships and a yard for containers, Farhan al-Fartousi, Iraq s director general at the General Company for Ports, told Reuters in Basra.