KRG inaugurates investment office in Zakho

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) inaugurated the Directorate of Investment to improve services in the autonomous region’s new independent administrations.

Mohammad Shukri, head of the KRG Investment Board, attended the inauguration of the new directorate along with Guhdar Sheko, head of the Independent Administration of Zakho. 

The directorate is "very important for us" as the city is a strategic and tourist site, Sheko told Kurdistan 24 on Tuesday. 

The directorate will soon issue its "investment strategies," he added.

The city was recently made an independent administration by the Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani as part of his government's bid to delegate more administrative powers to local governments and create a more efficient bureaucracy for citizens.

Read More: PM Barzani: 'We owe a lot to the people of Zakho' 

The only border crossing between Iraq and Turkey is Ibrahim Khalil in Zakho. The land border is considered strategic because it connects the Kurdish Region with Europe.

Aside from economic advantages, the new investment authority will help bring more opportunities to the city since tourists are attracted to the beautiful nature of the area, according to Shekho. 

As part of its reform plan, the KRG is seeking to diversify its sources of revenue and lessen its heavy dependency on oil.