Turkish Trade Minister Mehmet MuÅŸ agreed with officials of the Kurdistan region in northern Iraq, on Sunday, to remove obstacles to expanding trade and economic relations between the two sides.
This came during two separate meetings with the President of the Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq, Nechirvan Barzani, and Prime Minister Masrour Barzani in Erbil.
A statement issued by the Presidency of the Region stated that Barzani and Mus expressed their desire to “strengthen the trade relations of the Kurdistan Region and Iraq with Turkey, and they agreed on the need to remove and resolve all obstacles that impede the expansion of trade and economic relations between the two countries.”
The statement quoted Barzani as saying that “the opportunities for operating Turkish capital and investment in the Kurdistan region are very appropriate and wide, and that the Turkish trade route to the large Iraqi market passes through the Kurdistan region.”
Barzani described the economic and commercial relations of the Kurdistan region with Turkey as “important and strategic,” expressing the region’s readiness to provide all necessary facilities to operate Turkish capital and trade with the Kurdistan region and Iraq.
For his part, Mehmet Mus affirmed his country’s desire to “develop trade relations and expand economic activities” in the Kurdistan region, pointing to “successful models of investments and the operation of Turkish capital in the countries of the region that can be replicated in the Kurdistan Region and expanded to extend to all other regions of Iraq,” according to Regional Presidency statement.
For its part, the Kurdistan Regional Government stated in a statement that Prime Minister Masrour Barzani held talks with Mehmet Mus and the high-ranking trade delegation accompanying him, which included a number of Turkish businessmen and investors.
The head of the regional government stressed “the importance of strengthening prospects for relations, cooperation and coordination with Turkey, as it is an important neighbor of the Kurdistan region and Iraq and the region’s gateway to Europe and the world,” noting that “the visit of the large commercial delegation will enhance the solid relationship that brings together the Kurdistan region and Turkey.”
He pointed out that “the Kurdistan region always seeks to consolidate its comprehensive relations with Turkey on the basis of mutual respect, common interests, and good neighborliness.”
Barzani said that “the region will provide all the necessary facilities for local and foreign investors in order to promote investment and commercial business.”
For his part, the Turkish Minister of Trade expressed his country’s desire to “close relations with the Kurdistan Region in various fields, especially in the trade and investment movement,” and expressed his hope that “trade and investment transactions between Turkey and the Kurdistan Region will increase in the foreseeable future,” according to a government statement. Territory.
Mus arrived in Iraq on Saturday for a two-day official visit, the second in two months.
Turkish exports to Iraq amounted to $9.1 billion in 2020, while their volume in the first eight months of this year amounted to $6.6 billion.
