Transport

UAE company in joint venture to build Baghdad metro

July 19, 2024, 9:27 AM

Malaysia’s HSS Engineers Berhad and its emirati consultancy HSS signed the deal top oversee construction with the Baghdad municipality — Malaysia’s HSS Engineers Berhad and its emirati consultancy, HSS, have signed a deal to oversee construction of the Baghdad metro

Malaysia’s HEB and UAE’s HSS team up
Baghdad metro contract worth $316m
Network of 64 stations planned

A Malaysian engineering company and its UAE affiliate have jointly won a $316 million contract to oversee the construction of the new Baghdad metro.

The building of the planned 148-kilometre network and its 64 stations across the Iraqi capital was slated to begin this month and end in 2029.

This timeline might be delayed, however, as relevant contracts are still in the tendering stage, according to local and industry news reports.

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The joint venture between Malaysia’s HSS Engineers Berhad (HEB) and its emirati consultancy, HSS, signed the deal with the Baghdad municipality as Iraq pushes forward on efforts to improve infrastructure and reconnect its economy to the global one.

This month, the Iraqi transport ministry signed deals with China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) and Turkey’s Kiklop Design Hertz Insaat related to the development of the Nasiriyah International Airport in Southern Iraq.

Also this month, Iraq resumed direct flights between Baghdad and Beijing to help boost commerce with China, while separately advancing discussions with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to lift Europe’s on-and-off 30-year ban on Iraqi Airways.

Iraqi authorities have also restarted talks for the nation to join the World Trade Organization about 20 years after it first applied.

Tan Sri lr Kunasingam Sittampalam, HEB’s acting group CEO, said at the signing of the Baghdad metro contract this month that the project would provide the Iraqi capital with “modern connectivity,” and prompt “urban growth and economic prosperity,” according to news reports.

HEB is involved in similar projects in Jakarta, Indonesia and Phnom Penh, Cambodia, among others. Sittampalam said in June that the company hoped to generate a quarter of its turnover through overseas ventures by 2027.