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Kurdistan
The Kurdistan-Austria business forum held in Erbil on Tuesday, September 21, 2021. Photo: Jamal Yad
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Department of Information Technology will explore the possibilities of working with an Austrian company in the field of digital forensics, following a meeting between both sides at the Kurdistan-Austria business forum in Erbil on Tuesday.
“We hope to have good results in these two days in creating cooperation between businessmen in Austria and Kurdistan,” chairman of the Kurdistan Region Board of Investment Mohammed Shukri said at the fair, held by Austrian Embassy Commercial Section/ADVANTAGE AUSTRIA in cooperation with the KRG’s department of foreign relations.
“As the investment board, we will try to take this relationship to a level that in a near future Austrian companies will invest in the Kurdistan Region and the relationship does not only remain as a trade of goods,” he added.
Eleven Austrian companies operating in different sectors had come to the forum, with the presence of over 20 distinguished Kurdish and Iraqi companies.
Among the Austrian companies participating was T3K.ai company that operates in the different fields of artificial intelligence and more specifically in the field of digital forensics.
The company, according to their profile received by Rudaw English, aims to “streamline Digital Forensics investigations, by automating the time-consuming work of analysing, aggregating, and prioritizing data, giving analysts and investigators the basis for a focused start into their case work.”
The representatives of the company held a brief meeting with the KRG’s department of information technology, to which the department arranged a second meeting on Wednesday with specialists in the room.
“We are interested to know what kind of characteristics of digital forensics they use for their systems. In the brief meeting that we had, we spoke about the use of biometric engines and since our department has been utilizing biometric technology to deduplicate 1.2 million government beneficiaries, we want to know what is new,” head of the department Hiwa Afandi told Rudaw English following the meeting, saying he was optimistic the firm would be a good fit to work with.
“I believe that digital forensics can be the next big thing that we can help the ministry [of interior] get their hands on,” he added. “This is a multi-stakeholder idea. The ministry of justice, the ministry of interior, and the department of foreign relations would all be interested in it.”
Rudaw English reached out to representatives of the company, but they were unavailable to comment at the time of publication.
Several Kurdish companies and firms saw the forum as an opportunity for future business.
“We have entered the Austrian Refocus conference to find partners and work with them in the future. We think this partnership will be great for the future, because Austria is a huge technological and industrial country,” Omar al-Asaadi from KAR Group told Rudaw English.
“We are very pleased that this event is taking place today, because we believe that there is an immense amount of opportunities in Iraq and Erbil, and we are pleased to meet with Austrian businesses,” Aro Omer, an associate for al-Tamimi law firm based in Erbil and Baghdad told Rudaw English. “We are expecting to get to know Austrian businesses and other European businesses that intend to provide their services in Iraq, and we want to in return see if we can provide our legal services to facilitate their investment in Erbil.”
The Austrians were also pleased with the forum outcomes.
“I am confident it will enhance our cooperation, our business relations, and investment which is part of our excellent relation between Austria and Iraq, and the Kurdish Region,” the Austrian Ambassador to Iraq Oskar Wustinger told Rudaw English. “It is the aim of this event to see what Austria can offer and to see what Iraq and Kurdistan can offer, and hopefully to bring them together, it is not a one way street, it is mutual interest.”
The business relationship between Austria and the Kurdistan Region and Iraq is already strong. Austria mainly exports beverages and medical equipment to the Kurdistan Region. According to data provided by the Austrian Commercial Counselor Herwig Neuper, between January to June 2021, exports from Austria to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region stood at 31.1 million euros.
In return, the main product of import into Austria from the Region and Iraq is oil, to which in 2020, the rate stood at 216.5 million euros.
“We hope to have good results in these two days in creating cooperation between businessmen in Austria and Kurdistan,” chairman of the Kurdistan Region Board of Investment Mohammed Shukri said at the fair, held by Austrian Embassy Commercial Section/ADVANTAGE AUSTRIA in cooperation with the KRG’s department of foreign relations.
“As the investment board, we will try to take this relationship to a level that in a near future Austrian companies will invest in the Kurdistan Region and the relationship does not only remain as a trade of goods,” he added.
Eleven Austrian companies operating in different sectors had come to the forum, with the presence of over 20 distinguished Kurdish and Iraqi companies.
Among the Austrian companies participating was T3K.ai company that operates in the different fields of artificial intelligence and more specifically in the field of digital forensics.
The company, according to their profile received by Rudaw English, aims to “streamline Digital Forensics investigations, by automating the time-consuming work of analysing, aggregating, and prioritizing data, giving analysts and investigators the basis for a focused start into their case work.”
The representatives of the company held a brief meeting with the KRG’s department of information technology, to which the department arranged a second meeting on Wednesday with specialists in the room.
“We are interested to know what kind of characteristics of digital forensics they use for their systems. In the brief meeting that we had, we spoke about the use of biometric engines and since our department has been utilizing biometric technology to deduplicate 1.2 million government beneficiaries, we want to know what is new,” head of the department Hiwa Afandi told Rudaw English following the meeting, saying he was optimistic the firm would be a good fit to work with.
“I believe that digital forensics can be the next big thing that we can help the ministry [of interior] get their hands on,” he added. “This is a multi-stakeholder idea. The ministry of justice, the ministry of interior, and the department of foreign relations would all be interested in it.”
Rudaw English reached out to representatives of the company, but they were unavailable to comment at the time of publication.
Several Kurdish companies and firms saw the forum as an opportunity for future business.
“We have entered the Austrian Refocus conference to find partners and work with them in the future. We think this partnership will be great for the future, because Austria is a huge technological and industrial country,” Omar al-Asaadi from KAR Group told Rudaw English.
“We are very pleased that this event is taking place today, because we believe that there is an immense amount of opportunities in Iraq and Erbil, and we are pleased to meet with Austrian businesses,” Aro Omer, an associate for al-Tamimi law firm based in Erbil and Baghdad told Rudaw English. “We are expecting to get to know Austrian businesses and other European businesses that intend to provide their services in Iraq, and we want to in return see if we can provide our legal services to facilitate their investment in Erbil.”
The Austrians were also pleased with the forum outcomes.
“I am confident it will enhance our cooperation, our business relations, and investment which is part of our excellent relation between Austria and Iraq, and the Kurdish Region,” the Austrian Ambassador to Iraq Oskar Wustinger told Rudaw English. “It is the aim of this event to see what Austria can offer and to see what Iraq and Kurdistan can offer, and hopefully to bring them together, it is not a one way street, it is mutual interest.”
The business relationship between Austria and the Kurdistan Region and Iraq is already strong. Austria mainly exports beverages and medical equipment to the Kurdistan Region. According to data provided by the Austrian Commercial Counselor Herwig Neuper, between January to June 2021, exports from Austria to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region stood at 31.1 million euros.
In return, the main product of import into Austria from the Region and Iraq is oil, to which in 2020, the rate stood at 216.5 million euros.
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