Kurdistan, Iran to build $650 million-worth industrial border city

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Plans between the Kurdistan Region and Iran to build an industrial city on the Iranian side of the Parwezkhan Border crossing with the aim of promoting trade are reportedly in consideration, according to an official.

Ali Tawfiq, the Director of Parwezkhan Border Crossing, spoke to Sulaimani-based media outlet Xendan on Saturday, asserting the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Iranian government are planning to establish an industrial city near the border crossing to promote trade between the two nations and boost the export of Iranian products to the Region.

Two Iranian and Kurdish firms will reportedly be contracted to build the city, Tawfiq stated, adding the new industrial area would occupy some 500 hectares of land near Parwezkhan.

“The 650-million-dollar worth industrial city will become an important center in the developing trade partnership between the Region and Iran,” the KRG official explained.

The project has the full support of the KRG, and construction will soon begin, Tawfiq asserted.

On May 2, the 4th economic conference between the two nations kicked off in Erbil, with the participation of Kurdish, Iraqi, and Iranian officials.

During the conference, Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, said that the KRG supports any activities that will serve to strengthen trade its neighbor, Iran.

He also noted that 67 percent of automobile imports to the Kurdistan Region are brought through the Iranian border. According to Barzani, there are 359 Iranian companies and 135 Iranian factories in the Kurdistan Region, all of which, combined, create hundreds of local jobs.

There are three international border crossings between the Kurdistan Region and Iran; Haji Omaran, Bashmakh, and Parwezkhan. There are also five additional local-level gates, some of which Barzani said the KRG will be putting effort into promoting to the international level.

Editing by Nadia Riva