Jun 25 2012

Foreign firms to build multi-billion dollar housing projects in Iraq’s Basra

By Basem Husain

Azzaman, June 25, 2012

The southern Iraqi Province of Basra will soon become the scene of multi-billion dollar construction projects to be implemented by major foreign firms, according to a statement by the provincial Investment Commission.

Most of these projects will be in the city of Basra, the provincial capital. On completion the city should have more than 70,000 new and modern apartments for low-income groups, the statement said.

Besides the apartments, the province will have villas and detached and semi-detached homes for Basra’s well-offs.

The statement said foreign investors will be financing their own project and recouping their expenditures and profits through installments.

It said the firms come from countries such as Holland, Italy and China.

An Italian firm will construct 5,000 housing units at a cost of $700, the statement added.

The Italians, it said, will also be building villas as well as entertainment projects in the Basra.

But the largest investment, according to the statement, is to come from a Dutch firm under which the company is reported to be willing to spend more than $1.5 billion on housing in Basra.

The statement said the firm will construct what it termed “a Dutch Village” in the province on sprawling land which will eventually have up to 60,000 housing units.

The claims of such massive investments by foreign firms in Iraq could not be independently confirmed.

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