Over $3.3 Billion Emirati Investment Highlighted as UAE Envoy Visits Erbil
A high-level UAE delegation, led by a special envoy, has arrived in Erbil to deepen political and commercial ties with the Kurdistan Region. The visit highlights over $3.3 billion in Emirati investment and follows a KRG investment delegation's trip to the UAE to attract further business.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – A high-level delegation from the United Arab Emirates arrived in Erbil on Wednesday morning for a series of important meetings with Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) officials, a visit that underscores the rapidly deepening political and commercial partnership between the two sides and highlights the UAE's significant and growing role as a major investor in the region.
The arrival of the delegation, led by a special envoy of the UAE Foreign Minister, comes as the KRG actively pursues its agenda of economic diversification and seeks to attract greater foreign investment to foster sustainable growth and job creation.
The Emirati delegation, headed by Saeed Mubarak Rashid Al Hajeri, who serves as Minister of State and the UAE Foreign Minister's Envoy for Special Affairs to the Kurdistan Region, was officially welcomed upon its arrival at Erbil International Airport by Safin Dizayee, the Head of the KRG's Department of Foreign Relations, and Omed Khoshnaw, the Governor of Erbil.
The visit is a central component of the mutual efforts by both the Kurdistan Region and the UAE to strategically develop and enhance their political and commercial relations. The delegation is scheduled to hold a number of significant meetings with senior KRG officials during their time in the region.
This high-profile visit is part of a broader, dynamic exchange aimed at bolstering economic ties. It comes at a time when a delegation from the Kurdistan Region's Investment Board has also been visiting the UAE with the express purpose of encouraging Emirati investors to expand their presence and launch new ventures in the Kurdistan Region.
This reciprocal engagement is a cornerstone of the KRG's ninth cabinet's agenda, which has prioritized attracting foreign capital and diversifying the region's sources of income beyond its traditional reliance on hydrocarbons.
Currently, foreign companies constitute 20 percent of all investment companies operating in the Kurdistan Region, and a primary objective of the KRG's outreach is to significantly increase that percentage.
Pana Niazi, the Head of the Marketing Department at the KRG's Foreign Investment Attraction Unit, recently articulated the region's open-door policy for Emirati businesses.
"Emirati investment companies in the Kurdistan Region have investment opportunities in various sectors such as industry, construction, tourism, agriculture, and renewable energy, and all assistance will be provided to them," she told Kurdistan24.
She also confirmed that the outreach to the UAE is the first step in a broader four-year strategy to attract the attention of foreign investors from other countries, with an initial focus on the Gulf states.
The UAE already stands as one of the Kurdistan Region's largest and most important trading partners, with a relationship that has been cultivated since 2006. These efforts to strengthen economic ties have been particularly intensified under the leadership of the KRG's ninth cabinet.
The depth of this partnership is underscored by the significant Emirati commercial presence in the Kurdistan Region, where more than 120 Emirati companies are currently in operation.
Among these, 15 are classified as large companies conducting extensive commercial activities across various sectors.
The financial scale of this partnership is substantial. The total direct investment by the UAE in the Kurdistan Region now exceeds $3.3 billion.
In addition to this, approximately $420 million has been invested through joint ventures, and the total area of Emirati investment in the region covers 461 dunams.
This robust investment has had a tangible impact on the local economy, with projects in the investment sector having created over 150,000 job opportunities over the past four years.
The arrival of the Emirati delegation is the latest in a series of positive developments for the KRG's investment climate, following a recent visit by a U.S. business delegation that consisted of representatives from 32 different companies, further cementing the Kurdistan Region's growing reputation as a stable and attractive destination for international capital.
