Iraq has broken ground on a $2-billion project to build a residential city outside its capital Baghdad, featuring 30,000 housing units as well as key amenities, said a report.

The Jawahiri project is part of a broader plan to construct five cities across Iraq, stated Bloomberg, adding the proposed city will include universities, commercial centres, schools and healthcare facilities.  The work is being implemented by two Chinese firms – East China Engineering Science and Technology Company and China National Chemical Engineering Company – in collaboration with their Iraqi partner Shams Al Binaa.

The Iraqi government aims to build between 250,000 and 300,000 housing units for poor and middle-class families, stated the report citing Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia Al Sudani. The project is part of plan to construct five cities across the country in Karbala, Anbar, Nineveh and Babel provinces.