The Iranian Government and ANAS, the Italian Roads and Highways National Agency, have signed the contract for the development of a 1,200 kilometre highway in Iran under public-private partnership (PPP) model.

This agreement follows a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by Italy and Iran last February in Teheran whereby ANAS was entrusted the economic and technical feasibility studies of the project.

The project comprises the construction of the 1200-Km North-South corridor in Iran, from the port of Bandar Iman Khomeini on the Persian Gulf to the Nothern border with Turkey. The total project investment is expected to stand at €3.6 billion (US$3.95 billion).

According to the feasibility study submitted on July 5, the first priority in the project is the development of a first 350-km leg of the corridor to be completed by 2022. The investment for this stretch of the road project will reach €600 million.

The remaining 830 km of the project will require a higher investment as the route will run through mountainous terrain. The expected cost of this part of the corridor stands at certain €3 billion.