Poland is one of Iraq’s largest economic partners in the European Union, and trade between the two countries is constantly growing. Although it is still far from the glory days of Polish-Iraqi economic cooperation in the 1970s and 1980s, it is undoubtedly gaining momentum, showing a clear upward trend and opening new perspectives for Polish entrepreneurs in this promising yet demanding market. After years of instability, Iraq is becoming an increasingly important trading partner for Poland in the Middle East, a fact confirmed by rising trade indicators and the intensification of political and business contacts. In particular, over the last 10 years, the value of Polish exports to Iraq has doubled, which bodes very well for the future.

Poland primarily exports agri-food products to Iraq. Polish food, including dairy products, grain derivatives, and meat, is highly valued by Iraqi consumers. Other groups of goods exported to the Iraqi market include chemical products, machinery and equipment (especially those used in agriculture and industry), as well as base metals and their products. In the future, Poland could also develop cooperation with Iraq in the medical and pharmaceutical sectors, especially since it is already a popular destination for medical tourism from Iraq. Poland can also offer Iraq support in agricultural modernization, water management, and technology transfer in this area. Iraq’s interest in such cooperation is evidenced by, among other things, the visit of an Iraqi delegation from the parliamentary committees for agriculture, water, economy, and trade, which took place in December 2024. The delegation met with representatives of the Polish Chamber of Commerce and visited the SPAW-MET Agricultural Machinery company, where a letter of intent for cooperation was signed. Cooperation is also developing at the level of local chambers of commerce and provincial governments, especially those of Greater Poland, Lesser Poland, Subcarpathia, as well as the Western Chamber of Commerce, the Starachowice Economic Zone, and the Association of Rural Innovators.

Polish-Iraqi economic cooperation can also extend to other areas, particularly energy. Poland has purchased Iraqi oil in the past and can also support with its own experience the development of Iraq’s IT and new technologies market, energy transformation, and the development of the extractive sector. The supply of military equipment is also a promising sector. Furthermore, Poland has extensive experience in modernizing roads and railways and is a manufacturer of rolling stock, which positions it as an excellent partner for Iraq in the implementation of the Development Road infrastructure project, also known as the Dry Canal, which is intended to connect the Persian Gulf with Europe. It is worth noting that Poland has a long tradition of implementing infrastructure projects in Iraq, and the participation of the Dromex company in the construction of Highway No. 1 in Iraq gained immense recognition and is remembered to this day.

A History of Polish Infrastructure in Iraq

Economic cooperation between Poland and Iraq officially began in 1959 with the signing of an agreement on economic, scientific, and technical cooperation. This period was characterized by the very active involvement of Polish companies in Iraqi construction and industrial projects. For Poland, Iraq was one of the most important trading partners in the Middle East.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Polish companies such as Polimex-Cekop, Budimex, Dromex, Elektromontaż, and Naftobudowa carried out about 25 large investment projects in Iraq. These projects included the construction of:

• roads and highways (Dromex)
• bridges
• industrial plants, including cement plants and factories (Elektromontaż-Eksport)
• railway lines (Polimex)
• power plants
• water and sewage infrastructure.

The value of mutual trade reached USD 200–250 million annually. The key element of Polish exports, besides construction services, was the supply of military equipment, which constituted over 70% of exports. In turn, Poland’s primary import was crude oil. It is estimated that about 50,000 Poles worked in Iraq during these two decades. This work was not without casualties. About 50 Polish workers died in accidents, mainly during the construction of the highway. The tragic death of Teresa Rożnowska, who worked at a Dromex medical center and was the wife of one of the branch directors of the company in Iraq, Lech Rożnowski, holds a special place in the memory of Iraqis. As Krzysztof Płomiński, the long-time Polish ambassador to Iraq, established, she died in an accident on her way from the camp in Tel Laham toward Nasiriyah, and her symbolic grave at the site of her death was funded by her husband. This grave has survived to this day and has become associated with a romantic legend in the memory of locals about a young Polish woman, known in Iraq as Tala, who came to visit her fiancé, an engineer, for Christmas in 1982. As Płomiński writes, “the fiancé would then come to her grave with flowers every day for several years, until the end of his work in Iraq. The place became iconic and retains that dimension for the local population to this day. It has become a legend, blurred by time, constant wars, and flawed human memory. It was recently recalled in posts on local social media, which, when shared, gained the interest of Polish media and European journalists.”

The first construction project carried out by Poland in Iraq was the bridge over the Tigris near Tikrit, built by the Budimex-Cekop company between 1969 and 1971. It is a post-tensioned concrete bridge, 800 meters long, and of strategic importance to Iraq. The work was led by the then 30-year-old engineer Zygmunt Pater, who had obtained his master’s degree in civil engineering specializing in bridges and underground structures from the Warsaw University of Technology just 5 years earlier. Pater, who gained a reputation as one of the most outstanding Polish bridge builders, returned to Iraq in 1980 to work there as the chief engineer for bridge structures at the Dromex Communication Construction Export Company.

Iraq at that time was one of the fastest-developing Arab countries, and oil revenues allowed for its modernization. Poland, on the other hand, had a cheap but extremely skilled workforce. After the construction of the bridge in Tikrit, new construction orders followed, including sugar factories, cement plants, steel mills, housing estates, canals, and dams. However, Poland’s greatest investment achievement in Iraq was the participation of the Dromex company in the construction of Expressway No. 1, which connects the port of Umm Qasr on the Persian Gulf with Ar Rutbah in Anbar province, where it splits into two sections leading respectively to the border with Jordan and Syria. This road is 1,200 km long and passes through Basra, Nasiriyah, Al Diwaniyah, Al Hillah, Baghdad, Fallujah, and Ramadi. Between 1981 and 1989, the Poles built two key sections out of the 13 that the investment was divided into. Their total length was 220 km.

The first section built by Dromex was the so-called R/7 from Nasiriyah to Rumaila in Basra province. Its value at the time was USD 300 million. The project was extremely demanding both logistically and technically. The highway was designed according to West German standards, as “indestructible,” with an emphasis on a 25-ton axle load. Polish road builders had to construct not only the highway itself but also all the ancillary infrastructure, including quarries to obtain aggregate (about 55,000 cubic meters per month), concrete and asphalt plants, hundreds of kilometers of service roads, and a 55-kilometer railway line for transporting the aggregate.

The work took place in extreme climatic conditions for the Poles, with temperatures reaching 70 degrees Celsius. As engineer Waldemar Kozłowski, who was in charge of contracts in Iraq at the time, recalls on the Inżynier Budownictwa (Civil Engineer) portal: “If you add to this martial law in Poland, the Iran-Iraq war, high temperatures, sandstorms, and separation from loved ones for over a dozen months, it can be said that Polish road builders had never before worked in such extremely difficult conditions.” Engineer Kozłowski also recalls that over 11,000 people passed through the construction site, with a peak employment of 3,000 workers. Not all companies were able to handle such conditions. The Japanese, who were building the R/9 section connecting Baghdad with Ramadi, withdrew from the contract in 1987, and the Iraqis were convinced that only the Poles could finish the remaining 75 km of that road on that section. And indeed it happened. 

Although Dromex was a leader in the road sector, other Polish companies also carried out numerous significant investments in Iraq. The most important companies included:

• Polimex-Cekop: This company, present in Iraq since the 1960s, was involved in building complete industrial facilities and installing machinery. They built, among other things, chemical plants and other industrial facilities.
• Budimex: Specialized in the construction materials sector and in the construction of mines. They completed, among other things, one of the largest steel mills in Basra.
• Elektromontaż-Eksport and Elektrim: Were responsible for the construction of power plants and the supply of electrical equipment and installations. An example is the construction of the Al Taji Mechanical Works in Baghdad.
• Naftobudowa: Implemented projects in the oil sector.
• Instalexport: Operated in the installation sector.

Poland proved to be a reliable partner for Iraq, and Iraq is a dynamically developing country after several tragic decades. This is enough for both countries to return to the level of economic cooperation from its golden age.