Erbil, Iraq – The Kurdistan region, in Northern Iraq, needs to invest US$ 30 billion in infrastructure by 2020 in order to ensure that its three provinces – Erbil, Duhok and Suleimaniyah – will keep growing at a fast pace, as they did in the past few years. The information was released by the governor of Erbil, Nawzad Hadi Mawlood, at the opening of the Erbil International Fair this Monday (23rd), in the capital of the Kurdish autonomous region.
“The private sector alone has invested US$ 29 billion in the past ten years, of which US$ 18 billion went to Erbil,” said the government official in an interview to ANBA. Although it has been inhabited since Antiquity, the capital of Kurdistan, for the most part, looks like a new city, with broad avenues, parks, modern buildings, luxury hotels, shopping centers and construction sites everywhere.
According to Mawlood, much of the funds invested originated from local investors. “The private sector is the backbone of our development,” he said, at the opening ceremony. He added, however, that the government has invested US$ 7 billion in Erbil in the past ten years. “These are high figures that should attract companies,” said the governor. Apart from infrastructure, one of the goals now is to develop the industry.
In order to ensure that the influx of funds will continue, the Iraqi Kurds are looking to attract foreign businesses, hence the importance of the fair, which will feature over 500 exhibitors from 20 different countries. One such country is Brazil, whose pavilion is organized by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex).
“We are hoping to open doors all over Iraq by attending,” said the chairman of the fair, Abdullah Ibrahim, at the opening ceremony. To Mawlood, the event is an opportunity to showcase the region’s “stability, diversity, and economic development.” The fair will continue until next Thursday (26th).
Trump cards
One of Kurdistan’s trump cards when it comes to attracting foreign attention is its stability, which contrasts with the remainder of the country. “Iraq is a great market and everyone wants in, but they want in safely, and this is the only safe passageway into the country,” said to ANBA the International Sales vice president of the IFP Group, the fair’s organizer, Fadi Kaddoura. “We hope to see major investment and development as a result of this fair,” said the IFP Group chairman Albert Aoun, at the opening.
According to Kaddoura, the autonomous region has been free from security issues for a “long time,” and that elicits investor confidence. Besides, Kurdistan has access to wealth, as it is entitled to 18% of Iraq’s oil revenues, in addition to having its own production. The city of Kirkuk, further to the south, however, is the pivot of a dispute between the Kurds and the central Iraqi government, due to the fact that it contains one of the world’s largest oil reserves.
Meanwhile, according to Kaddoura, many international enterprises are setting up their Iraqi quarters in Erbil, due to the peaceful environment and the access to the neighbouring Turkey and Iran. A case in point is Brazil’s real estate developer Andrade Gutierrez, which has offices in the city. The capital also boasts a modern airport facility, which offers direct flights to several destinations in Europe and the Middle East.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
