For $6.5bn Faw port project, Iraq welcomes companies to bid

On last Monday, it has been reported that Iraq has officially invited global investors to bid on its multi-billion-dollar Grand Faw port project and said those interested must specify their funding sources.
The ministry of Transport of Iraq has sent letters to its embassies abroad and foreign diplomatic missions in Baghdad, asking interested companies to bid for the project on the southern Iraqi Faw Peninsula and to enter negotiations on its terms, said ‘Hatyalyoum’.
The project cost has been estimated as $6.5 billion. It is also stated that bid will be welcomed from only ‘serious and financially able’ companies.
“The ministry of transport announces the Grand Faw Port project as an investment opportunity for qualified investors,” the letter said.
Bidders have to present a letter, showing their interest in executing such a big project and a second letter identifying the investor and specifying the funding sources.
An Iraqi official was quoted on Sunday as saying the decision to execute the Faw project on an investment basis was taken because of lack of funds due to weak oil prices and soaring war spending in the Arab nation of about 24 million people.
The port, with a planned handling capacity of around 99 million tons per year, will have a 39km container quay and another 2km berth, besides a container warehouse with an area of more than one million square meters.
Iraq, a key Opec oil producer, laid the foundation stone for the Faw Port project in the southern port of Basra in April 2012 as it pushed ahead with a drive to rebuild its war-damaged infrastructure.