ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Region’s Prime Minister and Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy met in Erbil on Monday to discuss economic ties and increasing mutual investment.
PM Masrour Barzani and Mahdi Safari discussed “enhancing relations between the Kurdistan Region and the Islamic Republic of Iran, especially developing economic relations, trade exchanges and investment opportunities,” a statement from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said.
“The two sides also discussed developments in the region and the relations between the Kurdistan Region and the federal government, including a number of issues of common interest,” added the statement.
The KRG representative to Iran, Nazim Dabbagh, told Rudaw in August that ties between Iran and regional powers including Iraq and the Kurdistan Region will continue to develop further, following the inauguration of President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran.
“Our trade with the Islamic Republic of Iran amounts to six billion dollars every year,” Sheikh Mustafa Abdulrahman, head of the Kurdistan Region’s Import and Export Union, told Rudaw in April.
Iran is hoping to develop industrial and free trade zones on its border with the Kurdistan Region. In May, Sulaimani Governor Haval Abubakir attended a conference about the Baneh economic zone, on the border between Sulaimani and Iran’s Kurdistan province.
