With the Korean government’s decision to help domestic companies participate in the reconstruction of Iraq, a new city development project won by the E&C Division of Hanwha Corporation has restarted in the Middle Eastern country.
The Bismayah New City Project in Iraq partially resumed after a year and four months, according to sources in the Korean overseas construction industry on Feb. 27. It is a key infrastructure project between Korea and Iraq and will build 100,000 housing units and various kinds of social infrastructure near Baghdad, the capital of Iraq.
The Bismayah New City Project is the largest project in Korea’s overseas construction history. The construction kicked off in 2012, but was suspended in October 2022 due to outstanding receivables.
Both Korea and Iraq made a lot of efforts to resume the remainder of the project. Since the suspension, the two countries have been discussing ways to resume the project including dispatching ministerial-level project support teams, holding joint committee meetings, and holding ministerial-level official invitations and meetings.
Last year, President Yoon Suk-yeol met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani to request support for the 2030 Busan World Expo and to ask for the Iraqi government’s support for the resumption of the project.
The Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation (MOLIT) also dispatched its first overseas construction project support team to Iraq this year. Minister Park Sang-woo and other members of the support team attended a ceremony held in honor of the resumption of the project on Feb. 25 (local time).
In a meeting with the chairman of the Iraqi National Investment Commission (NIC), Park emphasized, “We recognize the Iraqi government’s willingness to actively resume the project,” adding, “We request Iraq’s continued cooperation and support so that the completion of 100,000 housing units can be promoted without any delays.”
The delegation also requested that the Iraqi government allow Korean companies to participate in 15 follow-up new city projects modeled after Bismayah New City. MOLIT is also planning to provide policy funding, including overseas development assistance (ODA) from the early stage of the new project to expand into additional new city development projects.
Meanwhile, Hanwha received about US$230 million from the NIC as part of its outstanding receivables in December 2023.
Hanwha has completed the construction of about 30,000 of the 100,000 units in Bismayah New City. People are now living in about 20,000 of them. The remaining 9,480 units have not yet been handed over to the client.
Following the receipt of the receivables, the E&C Division of Hanwha Corporation has resumed partial construction for the finalization of 9,480 housing units and handover of them to the client. The complex has already been completed and only some civil and landscaping work remains.