Kurdistan PM, Australian Ambassador talk trade, investment in Erbil meeting

The two officials "emphasised the importance of strengthening ties between the Kurdistan Region and Australia.”

Kurdistan 24 2020/12/26 20:38

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani meeting Australian Ambassador to Iraq Joanne Loundes. (Photo: KRG)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Saturday met with the Australian Ambassador to Iraq, Joanne Loundes, and discussed, among others, “strengthening ties” between Erbil and Canberra.

“The two officials spoke about recent events in Iraq and the broader region, and emphasised the importance of strengthening ties between the Kurdistan Region and Australia,” read a statement detailing the meeting on the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) website.

“Recognising Erbil’s potential as a hub for regional and international commerce, the Prime Minister and Ambassador also explored opportunities to further develop trade ties between the two countries, notably in the sectors of industry and agriculture,” the statement added.

Prime Minister Barzani welcomed “more Australian investment and expertise in this regard.”

Top Kurdistan Region officials have discussed similar topics with other countries’ officials. In February, the Kurdish prime minister met with his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte during the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

Barzani then “invited Dutch companies to invest in Kurdistan, as the KRG continues with its plans to modernize the region’s economy,” a KRG statement said. Rutte, in turn, expressed companies’ “enthusiasm for investing in multiple sectors of the Kurdistan Region’s economy.”