February 5, 2009
Erbil-Hewler, Kurdistan region 'Iraq', — The US
Chamber of Commerce is conducting a five-day visit
to the Kurdistan Region in Iraq this week.
The delegation
includes American businessmen in many fields looking
to the Kurdistan Region in Iraq for mutually
beneficial trade and investment opportunities.
Security and economic growth have allowed the
Kurdistan Region in Iraq to credibly engage
international business partners in several key
sectors.
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister
Nechirvan Barzani has taken considerable steps to
improve transparency, boost the capacity of local
industry, and improve infrastructure to make the
Region fertile for foreign direct investment.
Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir, Head of the KRG
Department of Foreign Relations, welcomed the
delegation at a gala dinner at Martyr Saad Abdulla
Convention Centre. “The Kurdistan Region is open for
business. We in the Kurdistan Region and throughout
Iraq are looking ahead as we rebuild our economy and
infrastructure.” He added,www.ekurd.net
“So I invite American
firms to help us bring forth a bright and prosperous
future here in the Kurdistan Region, as a gateway to
the rest of Iraq.”
Ambassador Marc Wall, Counselor Minister of the
office of Economic Transition Initiatives at the US
Embassy in Baghdad, was the keynote speaker. He said
that Iraq needs a strong private sector, which in
any society is a source of prosperity, sustainable
employment and the delivery of goods and services.
Mr Qubad Talabani, the KRG Representative to the US,
accompanied the delegation. He said, “This is
another indicator of the increasing level of
cooperation between the US Government, the US
private sector, and the Kurdistan Region in Iraq. I
am particularly pleased that the US Embassy sent
Ambassador Wall to the Kurdistan Region to accompany
this important business delegation.”
The visit was organised by the US Chamber of
Commerce’s Kurdistan Region in Iraq Investment Task
Force, in coordination with the Kurdistan Federation
of Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Mr Aram
Zamgochian, of the US Chamber’s Task Force, urged
American businesses to move beyond discussion and
towards action and implementation in the Kurdistan
Region.
The gala dinner was attended by KRG officials,www.ekurd.net
US Chamber of Commerce
and Erbil Chamber of Commerce representatives,
foreign diplomatic representatives, local and
international firms, and senior US diplomatic and
reconstruction officials based in Baghdad and Erbil.
The delegation will also visit Sulaimaniyah, and is
meeting with the governorate’s Chamber of Commerce
and Industry, government officials and local
business leaders.
Copyright, respective author or news agency, krg
org
Top |
®
