Politics

Kurdistan PM discusses anti-coronavirus efforts, investment with US official

In a phone call on Tuesday, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani discussed ongoing relations and expanding trade between the United States and the autonomous region with Marshall Billingslea, the US Assistant Treasury Secretary for Terrorism Financing.

Sangar Ali 2020/03/24 18:48

kurdistan Kurdistan Iraq United States Coronavirus KRG

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – In a phone call on Tuesday, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani discussed ongoing relations and expanding trade between the United States and the autonomous region with Marshall Billingslea, the US Assistant Treasury Secretary for Terrorism Financing.

During the telephone call, “Prime Minister Barzani also updated the Assistant Secretary on the detailed domestic reform agenda that the KRG continues to implement, as well as discussing ways to increase US investment in, and trade with, the Kurdistan Region,” read a statement issued by Barzani’s press office.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) aims to diversify its economy and turn the Kurdistan Region a regional destination center for investment and trade.

Billingslea visited the autonomous Kurdistan Region last September and separately met with both President Nechirvan Barzani and Prime Minister Masrour Barzani to discuss economic ties of the two governments and ongoing cooperation to prevent financial sources from falling into the hands of terrorist organizations in the region.

Tuesday's statement added, “The PM and Assistant Secretary discussed the KRG’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and ways that the United States Government can help.”

The KRG has enacted multiple, strict precautionary measures as part of attempts to block the spread of the disease, including closing schools, declaring an extended public holiday for government employees, canceling all religious services and other public gatherings, and curfews across the region.

According to the latest update by the Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Health, there are a total of 97 confirmed cases of coronavirus, including two dead and 22 who have fully recovered.

Earlier in the day, the KRG further tightened its regionwide curfew to also ban non-emergency pedestrian movement. The curfew is due to expire on April 1, but another extension is likely as authorities work hard to limit the transmission of the highly infectious disease. Local security forces have dispatched units to various neighborhoods in Erbil, Suliamani, and other cities and towns to enforce the order.

The total number of infections across all of Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region, rose to 323 on Tuesday, with the death toll climbed to 27 as federal authorities announced the highest infections yet recorded in a single day.

Worldwide, over 417,000 people are confirmed to have contracted the virus, doubling the numbers reported last week, according to data compiled by WHO. More than 18,600 have died, as per official numbers reported by governments around the world, though the rate could be dramatically higher in some instances do to underreporting.

On Tuesday, a Chinese cargo plane arrived in the Kurdistan Region carrying an assistance package of over 1,000 coronavirus testing kits to the KRG Health Ministry.

Aside from its new anti-coronavirus regulations, the KRG has made successive public announcements and carried out multiple awareness campaigns to promote habits that would reduce the general public's chance of being infected.

The WHO in Iraq on Thursday praised the measures enacted and the leadership role played by the KRG in facing the crisis.

“The citizens in the Kurdistan Region are more committed to the instructions, especially concerning the curfew, in comparison to the other Iraqi provinces,” said one of the group's officials based in Iraq.

Editing by John J. Catherine