S Korea firm to sign $7.75 bln deal on Iraqi homes

Hanwha Group said it would soon sign a $7.75 billion contract to build 100,000 homes in a Baghdad suburb, in what it called the largest-ever overseas construction deal for a South Korean company. Hanwha and Iraq's investment commission will sign a final agreement for the Besmaya redevelopment project as early as this month after the cabinet approved it, a group spokesman told AFP. Group Chairman Kim Seung-Youn will take part in the signing ceremony, he said. Hanwha Engineering and Construction will build 100,000 new homes and lay infrastructure such as roads, water supply and sewer systems in the project at Besmaya, 10 kilometres (six miles) southeast of Baghdad, over the next seven years. Iraq's investment commission chief Sami al-Araji has said new housing was Iraq's top priority. The country is seeking to build one million new homes nationwide in the coming years. Hanwha said the contract would help open the door to future construction deals in the war-torn country.