MOT issues clarification regarding the airport agreement with IFC

Baghdad - INA

The Ministry of Transport issued, today, Saturday, a clarification regarding the consulting agreement for airport management with the International Finance Corporation, while expressing its denunciation and denial of what is being circulated in some media outlets.

The Ministry of Transport stated in a statement received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that it "expresses its condemnation and denial of what is being circulated in some media outlets that the government is moving towards contracting with external parties that are prohibited by Iraqi law to deal with to manage Iraqi airports," considering that "these political outbidding do not serve the interests of Iraq and Iraqis, but rather merely target the work and achievements of the government and the ministry."

The statement added that "campaigns of confusion, accusations and media misinformation against its projects usually become active with every announcement of a specific achievement in its service or strategic projects in railways, ports, air and land transport," noting that "the ministry is proceeding with the completion of strategic projects, especially the Development Road and the Grand Faw Port projects, of which we have completed the first five docks. These two projects will change the global transport map and create economic integration for the countries of the region and the world."

The statement continued, "What was raised about the advisory agreement signed by the Civil Aviation Authority with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), during the past year (2023), before the management of airports was entrusted to the Ministry of Transport (the General Company for Airports and Air Navigation Management)."

The ministry indicated that "the ministerial program of the National Service Government headed by Mr. Al-Sudani includes rehabilitating Iraqi airports, raising their efficiency, and developing their facilities and safety factors, to improve their services, in line with international standards for airports worldwide. Therefore, the advisory services agreement signed by the Civil Aviation Authority based on the decision of the Council of Ministers included submitting a comprehensive and integrated study to rehabilitate and develop Baghdad International Airport by preparing an investment booklet, aiming to rehabilitate and develop the airport's infrastructure, by finding a participant from the private sector, to benefit from the investment opportunity in the airport, on the basis of a partnership between the public and private sectors.".

The statement pointed out that "following the agreement, the IFC submitted an investment brochure, which includes three proposals: the first, rehabilitating the current airport. The second, building a new airport. The third, included merging the first and second options, which is what the government went towards, indicating that the International Finance Corporation - which has long experience in the field of airport rehabilitation, and which supervised the development and expansion of the most important airports in Saudi Arabia and Turkey - confirmed to the Iraqi government that it will assist in selecting the best international companies to implement the project, while stressing that the General Company for Airports and Air Navigation Management is a key partner in the process of rehabilitating the airport's infrastructure."

The ministry noted that "the technical and economic feasibility of rehabilitating the airport aims to increase the airport's capacity to receive passengers, and therefore the ministry categorically rejects and denies the allegations that talk about transferring 50 percent of the employees of the Airports and Air Navigation Management to the rest of the formations, and other allegations through which it is trying to confuse the cards."

The statement stressed that "the agreement does not go beyond the process of rehabilitating the airport and its facilities, and that Iraqi airspace is managed by the cadres of the General Company for Airports and Air Navigation Management."

The statement continued: "The rehabilitation and development of the airport will provide new job opportunities for Iraqis, and there will be an urgent need for all employee services in the Airports and Air Navigation Management Company, explaining that the consulting study included building a new passenger lounge to accommodate the expected increase in air traffic until 2036, so that the capacity of Baghdad International Airport will become 8.5 to 9 million passengers annually."