Red Sea tensions revive trade route between Iraq, Egypt and Jordan, 10 FEB

  Red Sea tensions revive trade route between Iraq, Egypt and Jordan

The Egyptian Ministry of Transport announced on Saturday the operation of the first phase of the Arab trade line between Iraq, Egypt and Jordan at the beginning of this year, following the Red Sea tensions.

She said in a report, followed by Shafaq News Agency, that the attacks of the Houthi group on international shipping ships in the Red Sea and the subsequent threat to navigation in the Suez Canal, highlighted the importance of the commercial link project between Iraq, Egypt and Jordan, and even talk about adding other routes linking the Gulf countries with Egypt.

According to the ministry, work is currently underway to implement the second phase of the integrated Arab trade line, through the construction of the Taba-Arish-Bir al-Abd-Fardan railway line, with a length of 500 km, to increase the volume of goods targeted for transport from the Gulf, Iraq and Jordan to Europe and America.

She stressed the Egyptian side's keenness to provide all forms of support for this new line, by facilitating procedures, and encouraging companies and various parties to use the line in both directions, especially with its importance in transporting goods from the Gulf, Iraq and Jordan to European and American countries.

Mohammed Ali Ibrahim, former dean of the Faculty of International Transport and Logistics at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT), believes that the line may be a window for the exports of Jordan and Iraq, and may open a door for the exports of Gulf countries, as they will pass through this road, which is an investment in the idea of multimodal transport.

"Of course, this is a solution to the Red Sea crisis for some neighboring countries, but it cannot be an alternative to the Suez Canal," he said.

In December of last year 2023, the Iraqi Ministry of Transport said that "Iraqi ports" have become an alternative to international transport lines to deliver goods from east to west, coinciding with the change of many major international transport companies due to security tension in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait.