Transportation ministers from Iraq, Qatar, and the UAE are expected in Istanbul on Thursday to discuss the construction of a $20 billion trade route connecting the Gulf to Europe, Bloomberg reported.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seeking finance from the UAE and Qatar to develop a rail and road network from Iraq's Faw port on the Gulf to its northern border with Turkey, as well as a railway across Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait that will connect Europe and Asia.

Erdogan believes that gaining UAE cooperation for the so-called Development Road project is crucial since the Gulf country is also negotiating a competing US-backed project, the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. Turkey has stated that the Development Road will be a quicker route and that freight demand may be adequate to finance both projects.

The UAE has previously stated that it is interested in investing in Turkey's logistics, energy, tourism, and agriculture sectors, without naming specific projects.

Turkey, once a stop on the old Silk Road, is trying to become a conduit for exports to Europe as rivalry for trade routes heats up as China expands its influence throughout the energy-rich Middle East.

Transportation Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu told TRT television last Friday that the road will "support sustainability of global trade by diversifying international trade corridors," which will allow Turkey to create a reliable and effective trade route and thereby "strengthen its economic and strategic advantages."

In June, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani said in an exclusive interview for Anadolu that the Development Road Project between Iraq and Turkey is key for the trade between the East and Europe and for the economies of regional neighbors.

“First, we must historically consider Iraq's role in trade between the East and the West. For centuries .. Mesopotamia has been a trade corridor, a plain favored by trade caravans for traversing its routes and engaging in trade with its cities and urban centers,” he said.

The Development Road is "fundamentally a restoration of this historical role," linking Iraq's al-Faw Port to the Turkish border," which is scheduled to receive its first ship as part of the project later this year, and connecting "the East and Europe via Iraqi and Turkish territories."

Al-Sudani highlighted the conflicts and tensions the region experiences and emphasized the need to "focus efforts on projects that intertwine interests and benefit."

“The Development Road will provide an opportunity for the emergence of industrial cities along its sides, complementing the trade passing through it, and the initial flow of goods through the Development Road corridor will begin."