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A modern market with several shops and commercial annexes has been inaugurated in the Iraqi southern province of Basra, the head of the city's reconstruction committee said.

"The market which was opened on Tuesday in Basra's downtown al-Khaleej neighborhood includes 32 shops, a pharmacy, gardens and a parking lot," Ghali Najm, the committee's head, told Aswat al-Iraq, Voices of Iraq, (VOI).

The project was carried out by an Iraqi company, under the supervision of the provincial council, Najm noted.

"Five other similar markets will be set up in Basra, al-Kaziza, al-Zubeir and Abi al-Khaseeb," he added.
Meanwhile, the deputy chairman of the Basra provincial council, Naseef al-Abadi, said during a press conference held with the British consular general in Basra that the market provides further evidence of the cooperation between the local government and the British side.

The modern market project, which was launched on Tuesday, is the first step on the way to establishing five other projects in the province. "The project was completed in a record period of 170 days at a cost of $1 million (nearly 1.2 billion Iraqi dinars) from donor countries," al-Abadi explained.

"I am pleased to open the Jameat Market, which is an excellent example of the many projects contributing to the re-building of Iraq,” said British Consular General Nigel Haywood, Britain's most senior representative in southern Iraq.

"The achievement is the result of huge cooperation between the local government, the British side and the Multi-National Force (MNF) reconstruction teams…," Haywood said.

The Shiite province of Basra lies 590 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.