Qatari Firm to Rebuild Iraq Corridor
The General Establishment for Road Transport signed an investment contract on 26 October 2026 in Damascus with a Qatari construction company to rehabilitate and build a second carriageway on the road running from the Bisiri junction to the Tanf border crossing with Iraq. The contract carries an estimated value of $147 million (USD).
The signing took place at a hotel in the capital, bringing a private regional investor into one of the country's main overland links to its eastern neighbor.
A 170-Kilometer Artery
The works cover 170 kilometers of the main route, together with a 45-kilometer link reaching toward Bisiri from the Sabaa Biyar junction. The contractor is given 900 days to complete the project.
Officials described the road as an economic artery connecting Damascus to the Iraqi border, to be built as a dual-direction route fitted with traffic-safety features.
Reopening Trade With Iraq
The route is intended to lift trade and transit between Syria and Iraq and to tie the domestic road network into regional transport corridors. Authorities presented it as part of a corridor linking Iraq to Syria's Mediterranean ports, casting the country as a transit bridge between Iraq and the Mediterranean.
Part of a Wider Program
The agreement was described as one piece of an international package of projects launched in the summer of 2026. Six road-works contracts and three supervision contracts with specialized international firms are expected under that program.
Budget figures presented alongside the signing allocated $193 million to central road projects in the current budget, $450 million for central roads in next year's draft budget, and $200 million for railway projects next year.
A Reconstruction Signal
The deal was framed as part of Syria's reconstruction effort, with the contracting company casting its commitment in those terms. It adds a cross-border private investment to a transport program the government says it intends to widen through further international contracts in the months ahead.