Iraqi authorities called on international private sector companies to bid for the expansion and operation of Baghdad\u2019s international airport after years of neglect in the conflict-scarred country.
\nIn September, the government signed an agreement with the World Bank\u2019s International Finance Corporation (IFC) to invite private companies to upgrade Iraq\u2019s main airport.
\nIraq \u201cis launching a two-stage public tender to select a private partner to rehabilitate, expand, finance, operate, and maintain Baghdad International Airport under a long-term Public-Private Partnership (PPP) contract,\u201d according to the official document calling for bidders and seen by AFP Tuesday.
\nIt is the \u201cfirst time that the Iraqi government, in cooperation with the IFC, opens its airports to private international investment,\u201d Farhad Alaaldin, the prime minister\u2019s foreign affairs adviser, told AFP.
\nIt is \u201ca step that will elevate the aviation sector to international standards,\u201d he added.
\nThe deadline to submit bids is September 12, and the winner \u201cis expected to modernize and rehabilitate the airport infrastructure, expand passenger and cargo terminal facilities… and operate and maintain the airport in line with international best practice,\u201d the document added.
\nThe IFC, according to the document, \u201cis acting as the lead transaction adviser for this PPP project.\u201d
\nAlaaldin said the tender process relies \u201con the IFC to have oversight over the project from its inception and to work on the economic model.\u201d
\nThe IFC\u2019s involvement, it is hoped, will \u201cgive more confidence to the world class companies to bid,\u201d Alaaldin said.
\n\u201cIraq is open for business and inward investment is on the rise,\u201d he added.- Arab News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Iraqi authorities called on international private sector companies to bid for the expansion and operation of Baghdad\u2019s international airport after years of neglect in the conflict-scarred country. In September, the government signed an agreement with the World Bank\u2019s International Finance Corporation (IFC) to invite private companies to upgrade Iraq\u2019s main airport. Iraq \u201cis launching a …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15507,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":null,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":null,"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[102,88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-en","category-flights"],"yoast_head":"\n