The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia intends to send a technical delegation to Baghdad in the next few days to discuss the Development Road project that the government announced weeks ago.

A statement by the Ministry of Transport stated, "On the sidelines of the meetings of the Maritime Industry Sustainability Conference held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Minister of Transport, Razzaq Muheibes Al-Saadawi, met today, Monday, with the Saudi Minister of Transport and Logistics, Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, and discussed with him projects and agreements in the transport sector between the two countries.

During the meeting, the Minister of Transport stressed that "the Iraqi government's vision is centered on finding economic integration with the countries of the region, in a way that strengthens its position in global trade, and guarantees the future of generations of the peoples of the region."

Al-Saadawi mentioned, during the meeting, which was attended by the Iraqi Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Safia Al-Suhail, and the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport for Technical Affairs, Talib Baish, and a number of ministry officials, that the Iraqi government is keen to strengthen public relations and joint cooperation between the two countries.

The statement added that the meeting discussed several files, while the discussion focused on the railway link project between Iraq and Saudi Arabia to transport pilgrims, Umrah performers and travelers between the two countries.

The statement continued, "The meeting discussed in detail the development path project that the Iraqi government embarked on, and the Saudi side showed great support for the project, and that the next few days will witness a visit by a Saudi technical delegation to Baghdad to discuss the details of the project."

According to the statement, the meeting discussed on the maritime transport agreement between the two countries, which aims to increase the traffic of inter-commercial ships, in order to increase trade exchange and facilitate access to ports.

The statement pointed out that the meeting reviewed the work of the Transport, Border Crossings and Ports Committee of the Iraqi-Saudi Coordination Council.

With regard to air transport, Al-Saadawi called on the Saudi side to reactivate the Baghdad-Riyadh line, which has stopped working since the nineties of the last century, as the Saudi side expressed its willingness to cooperate and discuss the issue of air transport.

For his part, the Saudi Minister of Transport and Logistics, Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, expressed his thanks and gratitude for Mr. Al-Saadawi's acceptance of the invitation to attend the Maritime Industry Sustainability Conference held in Jeddah.

Al-Jasser said that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia supports strengthening joint cooperation with Baghdad, stressing that the Kingdom has an integrated transportation network near the Iraqi borders, and it can be connected and linked with Iraqi transportation networks.

He stressed that Riyadh is interested and ready to support Iraq's strategic projects, indicating the Kingdom's keenness to implement the railway link project with Iraq to transport pilgrims, Umrah performers and travelers.

He stated that Iraq and Saudi Arabia enjoy a distinguished geographical location, and it is possible to benefit from this in joint projects between the two countries that enhance economic integration.

Al-Jasser indicated that Iraqi Airways is welcome at the airports of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, pledging to overcome any obstacles facing the process of resuming flights between Baghdad and Riyadh.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency