Chinese firms to build 'Science City' in Iraq as part of oil deal
RIYADH, May 15, 2022
Chinese companies are set to build a Science City in northern Iraq as part of an oil-for-projects deal, reported the Global Construction Review.
The work has already begun on the preparation of a 215,000-sq-m site for the project, said to be the largest of its kind in the country, stated the report, citing official news agency Alsabah.
The oil-for-projects deal between Iraq and China was agreed in September 2019, but no projects were specified at the time, it added.
If the scheme follows the model of the New University and Science City in Kuwait, it will combine a campus extension with commercial and residential development, remarked Ukail Al Araji, the president of Hamdaniya University.
Founded in 2014, the university is located in the town of Al Hamdaniya (also known as Bakhdida and Qaraqosh) about 30km southeast of Mosul in the Northern Nineveh Governorate. It is a relatively small public college, with fewer than 3,000 students.
The first phase of the project would include shopping malls, swimming pools and parks, he added.
