KRG PM: Kurdistan heading towards economic recovery

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister reiterated that the government is committed to providing essential services in the Kurdistan Region.

KRG PM Nechirvan Barzani at a ceremony for the opening of a $40-million worth luxury Hotel in Erbil on Sunday said that the Kurdistan Region is heading towards economic recovery and reconstruction as foreign investment is returning to the Region and trade and investment has become active again.

Barzani added that the Kurdistan Region is confident in taking steps forward to overcome the economic and financial crises soon, encouraging investors to return to the business-friendly Region. “The KRG will provide all possible facilitation for investors,” he said.

The KRG PM revealed that in the past ten years, the government increased the number of schools from 3,200 to 6,000 schools, and the number of public hospitals increased from 14 to 65 across the Kurdistan Region.

He also alluded to the road and settlement projects implemented over the past ten years.

Barzani said the government is serious about making reform in the agriculture, tourism, and industrial sectors in efforts to diversify the economy.

Regarding relations with Baghdad and the holding of an independence referendum, Barzani concluded that Kurdistan Region would hold a serious dialogue with Baghdad.

The Region is currently living through a critical financial crisis which began in 2014.

The KRG officials claim the current financial crisis is due to the federal budget share cut by Baghdad, the war against the Islamic State (IS), the presence of 1.5 million refugees and internally displaced persons, and the global drop in oil prices which severely affected the Region in all aspects.

Editing by G.H. Renaud