PM Barzani, Saudi official highlights investment ties

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and Saudi investment officials on Monday discussed trade bilateral ties with the Gulf country as well as ways to enhance the relations, according to a statement.

Prime Minister Barzani received Saad Al-Shahrani and his delegation in Erbil, where they discussed fostering Saudi investment in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, according to the government press release.

The premier highlighted the “historic and friendly relations” between Riyadh and Erbil and briefed the Saudi investment official on the ninth cabinet’s reform program, including economic diversification, as well as facilitating foreign and local investment.

Al-Shahrani expressed his country’s willingness to develop ties with the Kurdistan Region in various sectors, particularly in tourism, agriculture, and investment.

An Erbil governorate delegation in early July visited Saudi Arabia and met with the country’s top investment officials, including Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih.

The delegation laid out a proposal to their Saudi counterparts on the provincial plan to finish a water treatment project in Erbil in a bid to secure reliable water sources and reduce reliance on groundwater.

Erbil seeks to take a "loan” from the Saudi government to implement the project, which upon its completion, will provide 25,000 cubic meters of fresh water to the capital, according to the Kurdish capital’s Deputy Governor Masoud Karash.