Projects include building power plants to reduce Iraq’s dependence on Iran for its energy needs.
Three Qatari companies and the Iraqi National Investment Council have agreed to develop projects worth $9.5 billion in Iraq, including the construction of two power plants with a combined capacity of 2,400 megawatts.
UCC Holding and the investment committee signed a 25-year public-private partnership on Thursday in connection with the two power plants, which will cost $2.5 billion to build, according to a statement from UCC Holding on Sunday.
The power plants will help reduce Iraq’s dependence on neighboring Iran for its energy needs.
Iraq imports electricity and natural gas from Iran, which together account for between one-third and 40 percent of its electricity supply, which is especially important during the sweltering summer months when temperatures reach 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) and electricity consumption peaks.
The Iraqi Investment Council and Doha-based Estithmar Holding also signed deals worth $7 billion to manage hospitals, develop two “new mixed-use cities” and build a series of 10,000-room complexes, a statement from Estithmar said. The rooms of the new five-star hotel.
“Cities … will include residential areas, villas, schools, commercial areas, entertainment centers and other facilities and services, as well as all the infrastructure needed to build these cities,” Ramez Al-Khayyat, vice-chairman of Estithmar, said in a statement.
It was not immediately clear how much the Qatari company or the Iraqi Investment Board would contribute to the projects.
The deals were signed during Qatar’s emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani’s visit to Baghdad on Thursday, when he pledged to invest $5 billion in Iraq.
