Infrastructure as the Backbone of the State

Chapter profile

1. Executive summary

Iraq Vision 2045 begins this door with a fundamental paradox: Iraq has an extensive network of roads, ports and railway lines and major connectivity projects, yet it does not obtain a logistics service commensurate with its location and economic size. At the end of 2024, the total length of roads classified in official statistics — excluding the Kurdistan Region — was 59,745 kilometres: 6,743 km of primary roads, 9,644 km of secondary roads, 31,038 km of rural roads, 11,054 km of border roads and 1,266 km of expressways. That is a substantial figure, but it says nothing about pavement condition, capacity, safety, maintenance or journey time.¹

A more recent World Bank assessment confirms that roads carry over 90% of transport activity in Iraq and that around 85% of the network is paved, but approximately 65% is reported to be in fair to poor condition. The World Bank therefore approved $900 million in financing in June 2026 for the Iraq Transport Economic Corridors programme, ITREC, focusing on the E1 and E2 corridors, asset management, performance-based maintenance, safety and climate resilience, rather than construction alone.²

The gap is even clearer in railways. The Statistics Authority reports a line length of 3,072 km in 2024 and 2025, but actual activity remained limited: 248 thousand fare-paying passengers and 485 thousand tonnes of freight in 2024, followed by 192 thousand passengers and 354 thousand tonnes in 2025. World Bank project documents use a different operational definition of the existing network, at approximately 2,272 km and 115 stations. These figures cannot be reconciled by averaging them; the definition must be specified: statistical “line/track length” differs from the “operating network” used by the project.³

In June 2025, the $930 million IREM project was approved to rehabilitate and modernise 1,047 km of the existing line from Umm Qasr to Mosul via Baghdad, including workshops, equipment, safety, institutional reform and dry ports. By 2037, the project targets 6.3 million tonnes of domestic freight, 1.1 million tonnes of foreign trade and 2.85 million passengers. These are targets for a specific project, not a national baseline or a guaranteed forecast, but they show the scale of the gap between current network use and potential capacity after rehabilitation.⁴

Ports are a relatively stronger point in traffic trends. In 2024, public ports received 1,777 cargo vessels, imports reached 21.230 million tonnes and exports 17.712 million tonnes, and General Company for Ports revenues rose to approximately IQD 913.8 billion. In 2025, combined imports and exports increased to approximately 43.3 million tonnes, according to updated official indicators. Competitiveness, however, is not measured in tonnes alone: dwell time, port connections to rail and road, clearance, the reliability of service windows and container turnaround matter more than additional berths if the chain remains fragmented.⁵

Grand Faw Port changes the potential network geometry. In October 2024, the Ministry of Planning recorded overall actual completion of 81%, with the breakwaters, access road and container quay wall complete, while dredging, filling and the navigation channel were less advanced. In 2025, the Ministry of Transport announced the handover of five berths and completion of the 62 km connecting road, followed in February 2026 by an announcement that the navigation channel was 100% complete. These are important milestones, but they do not automatically amount to a fully functioning commercial port; commercial operation requires an operator, systems, gates, rail, roads, customs and a market.⁶

This is why the vision redefines the “Development Road”. The government project runs from Faw to the Turkish border through 11 governorates. In February 2026, the Ministry of Transport announced design completion of 78% for the road and 88% for the railway, with announced dates of 2031 for the first phase, 2038 for the second and 2050 for major capacity. Vision 2045 does not treat it merely as a transit route; its success requires logistics nodes, industrial cities, dry ports, governorate connections, and competitive times and costs against alternative routes.⁷

The executive conclusion is that Iraq does not need “the largest number of projects”. It needs a network managed as a portfolio of assets and corridors: functional classification, maintenance prioritised over unjustified expansion, measurement of each asset’s condition and fitness, separation of long-distance truck traffic from cities where necessary, transfer of suitable freight to rail, digital connections for ports and borders, and dry ports and logistics serving actual industrial and agricultural demand. Infrastructure then becomes a foundation for production and sovereignty, rather than a permanent construction bill.

2. From technology to infrastructure

Door Six ended with a physical question: every artificial intelligence system, smart factory, laboratory, robot and value chain needs infrastructure that works every day. If electricity fails, a container is delayed, a railway deteriorates, a bridge closes or a customs gate breaks down, advanced technology becomes an idle asset. Door Seven therefore begins with infrastructure before energy, water, cities and services: it is the network that moves people, materials, information and goods between all other capabilities.

The chapter does not, however, equate infrastructure solely with transport. Its specific subject is the spatial and logistical “backbone”: roads, bridges, ports, railways and their connecting nodes. Electricity, water, the internet and municipal services are addressed in subsequent chapters, drawing on their findings here insofar as they affect corridor, port and terminal operations.

3. The central question and chapter boundaries

Central question: how can Iraq transform its networks, ports, railways and development roads from scattered projects and assets into a reliable, safe and maintainable transport and logistics system that lowers economic costs and connects governorates to domestic and external markets through 2045?

3.1 What the chapter settles

• The role of roads, bridges, railways and ports in production, access and spatial connectivity.
• The approach to asset management, life cycles, maintenance and resilience.
• The function of corridors, logistics, dry ports and multimodal transport.
• The place of the Development Road and Faw within a broader national network, rather than as two separate projects.
• Principles for selecting, financing and measuring projects, and performance indicators through 2045.

3.2 What is left to subsequent chapters

• Electricity, gas, renewables and energy security are detailed in C02.
• Water and water security are addressed in C03.
• Urban transport, new cities and urban planning are covered in C04; this chapter addresses only intercity connectivity, corridors and the economic last mile.
• The internet and public digital infrastructure are covered in C05, and basic municipal services in C06.

4. Operational glossary and measurement rules

5. Baseline: what does Iraq actually have?

The 59,745 km figure represents a substantial stock, but the network’s composition matters. Rural roads account for more than half of classified length, while expressways total no more than 1,266 km in the same report. This creates a dual priority: protect rural connections to centres and markets, and build high-capacity axes where economic flows are dense, rather than extending expressways without demonstrated demand.⁸

The official 2024 table records 956 bridges in the governorates covered, including 692 concrete and 264 steel bridges. The count is not a performance indicator; a bridge is a high-risk asset because its failure can sever an entire network. Iraq therefore needs a unified register of bridge condition, periodic inspections, risk classifications and loads, rather than a simple inventory count.⁹

The railway series shows line length remaining at 3,072 km since 2023 according to the official indicator, without translating into sustained growth in use: freight fell from 654 thousand tonnes in 2023 to 485 thousand in 2024 and then 354 thousand in 2025. The aim is therefore not to extend track before restoring the reliability of the existing line and connecting it to ports and production areas.

The rise in port exports from 12.256 million tonnes in 2023 to 19.855 million in 2025 indicates growing flows, but the report does not tell us container dwell time, berth productivity or the share transported by rail. The next stage of measurement must move ports beyond purely “quantity” indicators towards “chain service” indicators.

6. Infrastructure as a prerequisite for production, not an afterthought

In a rentier economy, a road may appear to be a service provided to citizens after oil income has been secured. In a productive economy, roads, railways and ports are part of the production function itself. Factories pay for delays through inventory, farmers lose quality when cooling is delayed, exporters lose contracts when deadlines are missed, and cities pay the price of heavy trucks entering their streets.

The vision therefore connects every transport investment to an economic and spatial question: what flow does it serve? Which governorates and chains does it connect? What are the times and costs before and after the project? What is the less costly alternative? Will demand grow enough to justify maintenance and renewal? This aligns with the National Development Plan 2024–2028, whose transport objectives include modernising railways to serve Faw and the Development Road, making Iraq a strategic international transport route, increasing port capacity and expanding the private sector’s role.¹⁰

7. From project to asset: life-cycle management

One reason infrastructure deteriorates is the separation of the organisation that builds from the one that maintains, and a budget that allocates capital without protecting operating costs. Vision 2045 requires an asset plan before every new project is awarded: asset owner, condition standard, maintenance programme, operating finance source, critical spare-parts stock, renewal strategy and data mechanism.

The “maintenance first” rule does not mean stopping construction. It means a new project must not crowd out maintenance of a high-value existing asset when losing that asset would cost more than the expansion’s benefit. The state uses whole-life cost rather than the lowest construction price when operating and maintenance costs are substantial.

8. Roads: the economy’s everyday network

Because roads carry over 90% of transport activity, rapid economic reform depends on them. This does not, however, justify “roads first, always”. Private vehicles, buses and light trucks need road flexibility, while recurrent heavy freight over long distances may be cheaper by rail if the service is complete. The requirement is a division of functions, not a war between modes.

ITREC offers an appropriate direction: a north–south axis on E2 and an east–west axis on E1, with institutional reform, performance-based maintenance, safety and climate resilience. The vision uses the project as a building block but extends its logic to a layered national network: main economic corridors, governorate links, productive rural roads and last-mile connections to ports and industrial and agricultural areas.¹¹

8.1 Proposed functional classification

9. Road maintenance and asset management

The highest-return change in roads may not be a new kilometre, but early maintenance that prevents cracks from becoming a reconstruction job. The vision therefore builds a Pavement Management System and Bridge Management System linked to GIS: each section has a recorded condition, age, traffic level, deferral cost, climate risks and safety risks.

Performance-Based Maintenance contracts are used on suitable corridors: contractors are paid not merely for the quantity of patching, but for a specified service level — roughness, potholes, drainage, markings, safety and response. ITREC already introduces this approach in road-sector institutional reform.¹²

The financial decision is to establish a “multi-year maintenance account” within the budget framework, not an off-budget fund outside oversight. Critical maintenance appropriations are protected from arbitrary cuts during a fiscal shock, because deferral multiplies subsequent replacement costs.

10. Road safety: a safe road is part of productivity

Official indicators show 11,763 recorded crashes in 2024 and 11,948 in 2025. Crashes classified as “fatal” fell from 2,103 to 1,900, while non-fatal crashes rose to 10,048. These are crash counts, not death counts; the two must not be confused. The vision requires unified publication of fatalities, injuries, crash locations and road and vehicle characteristics so that interventions are risk-based.¹³

Safety is managed through a Safe System approach: human error is expected, but road design, speed, vehicles and response must prevent errors from becoming fatalities. Priorities are black spots, separation of opposing traffic at high speeds, safe pedestrian crossings, barrier, lighting and signage standards, truck weights, and independent safety inspections before roads open.

11. Bridges, tunnels and special structures

Bridges and tunnels cannot be managed like ordinary roads. They are concentrated failure points: closing one bridge may divert thousands of vehicles onto an alternative network not designed for the load. A dedicated structures register is therefore established, including a unique identifier, drawings, material and age, latest inspection, structural classification, loads, corrosion, collision and flood protection, and an intervention plan.

The year 2027 begins with a condition survey of all federally classified bridges and assignment to risk tiers: nationally critical, regionally critical and ordinary. Critical bridges undergo detailed, periodic inspections and receive sensors where justified by risk; smart monitoring is not purchased for every bridge as technological decoration.

12. Railways: rebuilding the backbone of heavy transport

Rail is useful where flows are dense and recurrent and distances justify transfer from trucks. The vision therefore does not target an artificial nationwide rail share; it builds specific axes: ports to Baghdad and Mosul, grain and construction materials, containers, and selected intercity passenger services where competitive journey times and reliability are achievable.

IREM follows the right logic: it begins by rehabilitating 1,047 km of the existing network between Umm Qasr and Mosul, including the Baiji workshop, equipment, safety, crossings and management, rather than constructing an entirely new line while the existing asset remains weak. It also creates opportunities for dry ports and the private sector. The 2045 standard is operating a route as a service, not completing track.¹⁴

Infrastructure ownership is organisationally separated from service operation to the extent needed for transparency and competition, while safety, timetabling and track access remain under a stable body. A Network Statement specifies capacity, standards and access charges when multiple-operator traffic becomes realistic.

13. Ports: from berth to trade gateway

A port is a flow system: ship → pilot/channel → berth → handling → yard → customs/security → gate → road/rail → warehouse/factory. If one link is slow, adding a berth does not by itself increase the chain’s productivity. The vision therefore adopts Port Call Time, Berth Productivity, Dwell Time, Truck Turn Time and the share of containers leaving by rail.

Traditional official indicators — vessels, tonnes and revenue — remain important, but are supplemented by monthly published time indicators for public terminals and operators. Terminals compete on service level, not fees alone.

14. Grand Faw Port: an anchor asset, not an isolated project

Faw can reshape the network map because it is a new deep-water port connected to the Development Road. The vision nevertheless rejects assessment solely by construction completion rates. Success begins when assets are handed over and enter operation: a usable channel, equipped berths, an efficient terminal, a digital gate, customs, rail/road connectivity, an operator and commercial demand.

The Ministry of Planning recorded 81% overall completion in October 2024. The Ministry of Transport subsequently announced handover of the five berths and connecting road in 2025, and completion of the navigation channel in 2026. This is a sequence of progress, but the vision presents it as “implementation status”, not automatic proof of actual commercial capacity. After opening, operating indicators must replace construction completion percentages.¹⁵

Earlier planning estimates placed initial capacity in the range of 20–45 million tonnes annually. These are treated as design/planning capacity, not guaranteed cargo. Freight follows contracts, routes, costs and reliability, not berth capacity alone.¹⁶

15. Logistics: the system connecting port and market

The World Bank’s 2023 Logistics Performance Index ranked Iraq 115 out of 139, with an overall score of 2.4 out of 5 and relatively low scores for customs, infrastructure and logistics competence. The index is a comparative perception survey, not a direct measurement of every shipment’s time, but it identifies a clear competitive gap that should be checked against Iraqi operating data.¹⁷

What is needed is a “logistics observatory” publishing container journey time from an Umm Qasr berth to Baghdad, border times, truck/train costs, waiting times, empty-trip shares, arrival reliability and damage incidents. These indicators make policy compete on outcomes rather than “logistics hub” labels.

16. Multimodal transport and dry ports

Iraq does not need to move all goods onto trains. It needs the most suitable mode for each leg: ships for sea distances, rail for heavy freight and regular containers, and trucks for flexibility and the last mile. A good node permits containers to transfer between modes without repeating a complete administrative and security screening process.

Dry ports are selected according to flows, not local politics: expected container volume, a rail–road intersection, expandable land, proximity to a market or industry, and operating viability. Every governorate must not be turned into a “dry port” without traffic volume; a few effective nodes are better than a network of empty names.

17. The Development Road: a corridor or an economic system?

According to the Ministry of Planning, the route runs from Faw to the Turkish border through 11 governorates. This geography offers an opportunity for spatial development but also a risk: the project could become a “transit pipe” carrying trucks and trains without leaving value in the governorates. The vision therefore requires every main node to have a land-use plan and connections to industry/agriculture/warehousing and freight services, while preventing land speculation before planning is complete.¹⁸

The announced government phases — 2031, 2038 and 2050 — are not replaced by the 2045 horizon. The vision uses 2045 as a national assessment point: by then, the completed part of the corridor should be integrated with Faw, the existing network and economic centres, with unified time, cost and freight-volume data published. Trade targets must not assume that all design capacity will be used.

The project also needs a stable legal and investment framework; in April 2026, the Ministry of Transport was reviewing a dedicated Development Road bill. The chapter therefore records the legal framework as work in progress and does not assume a law is in force before its official publication.¹⁹

18. Borders and customs: crossing time is part of infrastructure

Physical infrastructure does not end at the border post. If a truck arrives by motorway and then waits a day because of paperwork and repeated inspections, the cost has moved from asphalt to administration. Iraq has made important progress in customs automation: UNCTAD recorded a 128% rise in customs revenue in 2024 compared with 2023, and ASYCUDA expanded to cover over 90% of foreign trade by the end of 2024, according to its 2025 report.²⁰

The vision gradually moves towards a National Single Window: one declaration, electronic payment, risk management and selectivity, advance information exchange, connected border posts and time indicators. The goal is not “less inspection” but smarter inspection: directing effort towards high-risk consignments and allowing compliant trade to pass faster.

International TIR operation can also assist transit corridors if integrated with digital customs, guarantees and shipment tracking. It cannot, by itself, remedy weak roads, unexpected charges or overlapping authorities.

19. Logistics zones and industrial nodes

Logistics nodes must follow the productive economy. In Basra they connect to the port, petrochemicals and food; in central Iraq to national distribution and industry; and in the north to markets, borders, agriculture and industry. Each node is designed around actual cargo, rather than a uniform model.

A successful logistics zone needs public and private warehousing, cooling, container yards, truck services, customs where necessary, rail or a reserved future alignment, industrial land, communications and energy. Its success is measured by economic occupancy, traffic and business retention, not allocated land area.

20. The last mile and connections to the governorates

An international corridor does not create development if a factory or farm still faces 40 km of dirt road or a weak bridge. A “last-mile connection” investment window is therefore allocated to projects connecting existing production to corridors: a factory road, a field-to-collection link, a siding for a large factory, or an improved port/zone entrance.

Connections are assessed by network returns: additional tonnes, time saved, beneficiaries, connected production value and maintenance. This prevents a politically visible project from taking precedence over a small connection with a large economic return.

21. Data, ITS, traffic and asset management

A modern network needs a digital layer: traffic counters, axle weights, weather, incident cameras, bridge and tunnel management, maintenance tracking, port truck appointments, train information and status boards. The purpose is not monitoring for its own sake, but operational decisions: when should a route close? Where should repairs happen? How should trucks be distributed?

ITS begins on high-density corridors, not every road. ITREC itself opens a path for technologies, charges and sustainability on selected sections. Data is governed by the data sovereignty and cybersecurity principles established in the previous door: minimum necessary collection, permissions, retention and audit.

22. Climate resilience and network continuity

Heat, flash floods, dust and fluctuating water levels affect pavements, bridges, ports and railways. Climate risks are therefore incorporated into design and maintenance rather than addressed after failure. ITREC explicitly adopts road climate-resilience standards, an approach that should become a national rule for critical corridors.²¹

Every critical corridor needs route redundancy: an alternative if a bridge collapses, flooding occurs or a security closure is imposed. Ports need continuity of electricity, communications and exit routes; railways need response plans for signal or crossing failures. Resilience is measured by recovery time, not the number of contingency plans.

23. Project selection: from wish list to national portfolio

Infrastructure is particularly vulnerable to politicised investment because projects are large and visible. The vision therefore adopts gates before inclusion: an evidenced problem; demand and traffic; alternatives; cost–benefit/economic analysis; spatial impact; life-cycle cost; land and utilities; environmental and social risks; financing; delivery capacity; then national ranking.

24. Resolving land and utility conflicts

Many transport project delays begin with land and utilities rather than concrete: water, electricity and communications lines, ownership, encroachments, archaeological sites and environmental corridors. A Utility/ROW Clearance Gate is therefore established before major awards, and construction contracts cannot be signed until a specified share of the alignment and critical conflict points are resolved.

Unified GIS is used for ownership, utility, environmental and archaeological layers, with a known protocol for compensation and utility relocation. This reduces variation orders and claims and makes risks priceable before contracting.

25. Financing, charges and partnerships

Not every road can be tolled, and not every port must be publicly operated. Financing instruments are selected according to flow characteristics. An asset with clear cash flow — a container terminal, logistics facility or certain high-traffic roads — may support a concession or PPP. Rural roads and safety remain public functions financed from the budget because their benefits cannot be collected through direct charges.

User charges are not merely a fiscal objective. If road tolls are used, they must be linked to a service level, digital collection, clear exemptions/alternatives and disclosed maintenance use. Government PPP obligations and guarantees must appear in a fiscal risk statement so private finance does not become hidden debt.

26. Comparative lessons: mechanisms, not countries

The common lesson is integration: a port cannot succeed apart from its gate, a railway without cargo, or a road without maintenance; a corridor does not become an economy without production nodes. The vision transfers this mechanism, not the dimensions of other countries.

27. Iraqi infrastructure in 2045

In 2045, the network operates as interconnected layers. Faw and Umm Qasr are maritime gateways with reliable rail and road connections. Rail carries suitable containers and heavy freight and serves selected passenger axes. Expressways carry movement requiring flexibility, while regional and rural roads connect governorates and production to corridors. Borders and customs are digital and risk-based.

Every important national asset has an identifier, condition record, owner, maintenance plan and lifetime budget. Governorates see a service map, not merely a project map. The Ministry of Planning can compare a new road project with bridge maintenance or railway modernisation using the same results framework. The public sees indicators of journey time, safety, condition and delivery.

28. Transformation phases, 2027–2045

29. Indicator dashboard and targets

The following targets are policy proposals, not forecasts. Where no published national baseline exists — such as uniform pavement condition or container time — the first objective is to establish measurement in 2027–2028.

Targets are reviewed after each LPI round and the results of ITREC and IREM, because some indicators are international or project-specific. A 2045 figure must not be fixed if its definition changes; methodological consistency matters more than the target’s appearance.

30. Implementation programme package

Programme 1 — National infrastructure asset register

A unified GIS inventory of roads, bridges, tunnels, railways, stations, ports and nodes, including condition, age, owner, risks and maintenance plans.

Programme 2 — Maintenance before expansion

A multi-year programme for the highest-return sections and bridges, with performance contracts on selected corridors and published service levels.

Programme 3 — Economic corridor network

Integrate E1/E2, the Development Road and national links into a corridor portfolio, removing bottlenecks and completing last-mile connections.

Programme 4 — Railways 2037

Accelerate IREM, workshops, maintenance, safety and signalling, anchor cargo, dry ports, and connections to Faw and Umm Qasr.

Programme 5 — A port that operates, not merely one being built

Move Faw from construction progress to commercial operation: operator, gate, customs, rail/road, and time and traffic indicators.

Programme 6 — Port system

Unified public-port indicators, truck appointments, digital gates, and container connections to rail and warehouses.

Programme 7 — Safety and black spots

Unified crash and location register; treatment of hazardous sections; safety inspections; speed and load enforcement.

Programme 8 — Bridges and critical structures

Bridge Management System, risk classification, detailed inspections, maintenance, renewal, and protection from flooding and collisions.

Programme 9 — Corridor Single Window

Integrate ASYCUDA with border posts and agencies, advance data access, smart selectivity and crossing-time measurement.

Programme 10 — A small, high-quality dry-port network

Select 3–5 initial nodes according to flows, connecting them to rail, roads, customs and industry, then expand with use.

Programme 11 — ITS and transport data centre

Traffic, weights, crashes, roadworks, maintenance, train timetables, port trucks and data interfaces.

Programme 12 — Project readiness gate

Prevent awards before land, conflicts, designs, financing, maintenance and outcome indicators are settled.

31. Implementation, cost and financing matrix

The chapter does not establish a single “2045 infrastructure bill”; major projects need separate studies and continuously updated prices and designs. What is established here is the order of decisions, function, financing source and risks before figures are entered.

32. Risks and safeguards

33. Conclusion and bridge to electricity and energy

Infrastructure becomes the backbone of the state when it enables the other doors to function: roads connect farms to factories, rail reduces heavy-freight costs, ports connect production to markets, bridges preserve corridor continuity, and logistics turns all of this into a predictable service. Without this backbone, industry, trade and cities become islands paying the price of distance and disorder.