Iraq, Kuwait Sign Strategic Partnership to Build Telecom Corridor to Europe

Iraq and Kuwait signed a strategic partnership contract to establish a telecommunications corridor. (Iraqi News Agency)
Iraq and Kuwait signed a strategic partnership contract to establish a telecommunications corridor. (Iraqi News Agency)
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Iraq, Kuwait Sign Strategic Partnership to Build Telecom Corridor to Europe

Iraq and Kuwait signed a strategic partnership contract to establish a telecommunications corridor. (Iraqi News Agency)
Iraq and Kuwait signed a strategic partnership contract to establish a telecommunications corridor. (Iraqi News Agency)

Iraq and Kuwait signed a strategic partnership contract to establish a telecommunications corridor that links the Gulf to Europe.

The new partnership aims to strengthen Iraq’s strategic position in the region, the Iraqi Ministry of Communications said, noting that the ministry’s General Company for Communications and Informatics signed a strategic contract for the establishment of an international telecommunications corridor to Europe via Iraq passing through Turkiye, through temporary transit with the Kuwaiti Al-Zajil Telecom.

Iraqi Minister of Communications Hiyam Al-Yasiri said that the agreement “comes to strengthen Iraq’s strategic position in the region, and to maximize financial revenues, in implementation of the government program and the general federal budget law.”

She added that the agreement was the first of a number of contracts and projects for submarine and transit cables, aimed at establishing communication movement from the Gulf countries to South and West Asia up to the European continent, via Iraqi sea and land ports, passing through Turkiye.

Al-Yasiri continued: “This plan and other similar projects that are currently underway will make Iraq a safe land corridor that competes with the only international sea route in the region that passes through the Suez Canal.”

She also indicated that the ministry will sign other similar contracts, including an agreement with Saudi Arabia to set up a third submarine cable to Iraq in the Al-Faw region (located in the south of the country), pointing to initial approvals to connect the UAE to Al-Faw, as well as other agreements with Oman and Bahrain



Saudi Giga-project Diriyah Agrees Deals Worth $1 bln with European Firms, Says CEO

Jerry Inzerillo, Group CEO of the Diriyah Gate Authority reacts during the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, April 28, 2024. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo
Jerry Inzerillo, Group CEO of the Diriyah Gate Authority reacts during the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, April 28, 2024. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo
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Saudi Giga-project Diriyah Agrees Deals Worth $1 bln with European Firms, Says CEO

Jerry Inzerillo, Group CEO of the Diriyah Gate Authority reacts during the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, April 28, 2024. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo
Jerry Inzerillo, Group CEO of the Diriyah Gate Authority reacts during the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, April 28, 2024. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo

Diriyah, one of Saudi Arabia's giga-projects, has agreed deals worth nearly $1 billion with European firms and is in talks to attract more foreign capital, its CEO said.

Diriyah, located at a UNESCO World Heritage site outside the capital Riyadh, has been backed by PIF investments worth a total of around 20 billion riyals ($5.33 billion) in 2023 and 2024, and should get 12 billion riyals more next year, its CEO said.

It has recently agreed deals worth nearly $1 billion in total with an Italian developer and a French company and is in talks with several foreign investors looking to buy equity stakes in hotels and other real estate developments, Jerry Inzerillo told Reuters in New York this week.

"There's a lot of interest from America, a lot of interest from every country," he said. "We'll work with any country that can deliver quality and stay on time."

Foreign investors have already bought stakes in several projects in Diriyah, said Inzerillo, with more to come.

"A lot of people can see that it's built, it's doable; it's no longer renderings, no longer 'you wait and see' ... So now we're seeing a big spike in interest in foreign investment".

Inzerillo said investment priorities have changed because of upcoming events such as the Expo 2030 world fair, which Riyadh last year won the right to host. But the pace and scope of the Saudi giga-projects have not been scaled back, he said.

"It's a realignment, a re-prioritization ... not a reduction," he added.