Economy

US trade delegation to visit Kurdistan Region

"The timing of the visit also sends a signal that American companies remain committed to Kurdistan even as some recent decisions in Baghdad may have caused nervousness in some quarters."

Laurie Mylroie 2022/03/06 10:37

Kurdistan Prime Minister Masrour Barzani receiving a delegation from the US Kurdistan Business Council in October 2019 (Photo: KRG)

Kurdistan US Kurdistan Business Council Bayan Sami Abdulrahman USKBC

WASHINGTON DC (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Representation in the United States announced on Friday that it, along with the US Kurdistan Business Council (USKBC), has arranged a trip by a US trade delegation to the Kurdistan Region, which will take place this coming week.

Some 20 people, representing 12 companies, will travel to the Kurdistan Region, where they will meet high-level KRG officials, the heads of various companies in the Kurdistan Region, and the leaders of the Kurdish chambers of commerce.

The US companies participating in the visit involve “many sectors, including the food and beverage industry, energy technology, real estate, and digital arts,” according to the announcement of the KRG’s Washington Representation.

The group will visit Erbil and Dohuk. Such delegations have previously visited Sulaimani, as the USKBC has arranged for representatives of US companies to visit the Kurdistan Region nearly every year.

However, the COVID pandemic caused a pause in such trips, and this will be the first one since October 2019.

The USKBC was established in 2012 and marks its 10th anniversary this year. With the support of the KRG Representation, the USKBC has been steadily increasing its membership and activities.

“It’s apt that on the USKBC’s tenth anniversary, a delegation of American companies visits Kurdistan,” the KRG Representative to the United States, Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, remarked.

“Their commitment to the region and their investment in our economy has endured despite the ups and downs of the past decade, including the war against ISIS and the economic impact of the pandemic on our economy,” she continued.

“The timing of the visit also sends a signal that American companies remain committed to Kurdistan even as some recent decisions in Baghdad may have caused nervousness in some quarters. It’s a vote of confidence in Kurdistan’s resilience and in the people’s warm welcome to international business partners,” Abdul Rahman concluded.

The Biden administration has gone further than any previous US administration in affirming the importance of ties between Washington and Erbil.

Joe Biden was a long-time member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee before becoming Vice President in the Obama administration. In that capacity, he had responsibility for dealing with Iraq-related issues.

Biden has described Masoud Barzani—who was until he stepped down in 2017, the long-time President of the Kurdistan Region and still heads the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP)—as “a good friend of mine.”

Notably, the Biden administration describes US relations with the Kurdistan Region as a “strategic partnership.”