Turkey is hosting transport ministers from Iraq, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in Istanbul on Thursday to discuss building an estimated $20 billion trade route connecting the Persian Gulf to Europe.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seeking financing from the UAE and Qatar to build a rail and road network from Iraq’s Faw port on the Persian Gulf to its northern border with Turkey and a railway across Istanbul’s Bosphorus Strait bridging Europe and Asia.

For Erdogan, attracting UAE support is critical for the so-called Development Road project because the Gulf country is also involved in talks for a competing US-backed project, the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. Turkey has said the Development Road would be a shorter route and that cargo demand could be sufficient to support both projects. 

The UAE has previously said it’s interested in investments in Turkey’s logistics, energy, tourism and agriculture sectors, without specifying individual projects. 

Once a stop on the ancient Silk Road, Turkey is vying to become a conduit for exports to Europe amid growing competition over trade routes as China builds its own influence across the energy-rich Middle East.

“The Development Road will support the sustainability of global trade by diversifying international trade corridors,” Turkey’s state-run TRT television cited Transportation Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu as saying last Friday. “Turkey will strengthen its economic and strategic advantages by creating a reliable and effective trade corridor between Asia and Europe.”