Construction cranes dot the skyline of the city. New Fords, Toyotas, and Chevys now command the roads that just a short time ago featured a long procession of rusting cars and trucks, relics of decades long forgotten. The lobbies of the city’s hotels bustle with business people from all over the globe, all of whom are eager to pursue new deals and make investments. Restaurants and parks are brimming in the evening with families and friends out together, just enjoying life.
The city is Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. While it is reputed to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, with the ancient Citadel standing tall in the city’s center, today it pulsates with modernity.
These images stand in stark contrast to our collective perception—the threat of violence at every turn, a community built on ruble and despair, and a citizenry hostile toward the West—cemented in the American psyche after years of war and occupation and the regular drum of news stories from Iraq featuring violence in the streets. However, it is these images that truly depict reality in the Kurdistan Region. It is a safe and welcoming place with a flourishing economy being driven by an ambitious populace and government— a place that is not so unlike America. This is the reality that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is striving to help more American businessmen and women discover in northern Iraq.
In April 2012, His Excellency Massoud Barzani, President of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) visited the headquarters of the U.S. Chamber in Washington, D.C. During his meeting with U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tom Donohue, President Barzani highlighted the flourishing business and investment climate in the Kurdistan Region and encouraged the Chamber to bring American companies to the region.
Fulfilling President Barzani’s request, the U.S. Chamber, in partnership with the U.S.-Kurdistan Business Council, led a delegation of twenty-nine American companies on a business mission to the Kurdistan Region in mid-October. Not only did this large delegation represent the U.S. Chamber’s commitment to bolstering the commercial relationship between the United States and the Kurdish community, it demonstrated the strong interest American businesses have in taking advantage of the vast opportunities in the region.
While meeting with President Barzani, he underlined the importance of involving the U.S. private sector in the continued development of the Kurdistan Region, proclaiming that it is “in need of the experience and knowledge of U.S. companies for building a solid infrastructure.”
The Chairman of the KRG Board of Investment, Minister Herish Muharam, echoed this sentiment, proclaiming that the Kurds are “very keen on strengthening business ties with American companies and we welcome you to invest in the Kurdistan Region. The government has very friendly investment laws and it is ready to guide you to the investment opportunities in Kurdistan.”
“We are ambitious, we aspire to great things,” he continued. “But we are also realistic and aware of our shortcomings and challenges, such as corruption, red tape, and inefficiency. We are taking concrete steps to tackle corruption, for example, through the Pricewaterhouse Coopers transparency initiative. To increase the efficiency of our Investment Board, we are delegating more of our operations to the provincial level so that we can focus on our vision and on the strategies that we need to achieve our vision.”
Falah Bakir, Head of the KRG’s Department of Foreign Relations, conveyed that U.S. investment in the Kurdistan Region will continue to strengthen the bonds between Americans, Kurds, and Iraqis, relating that, “We strongly encourage the U.S. government to support American business in our region and make that commitment known to the U.S. business community.”
The effort to strengthen the commercial relationship extends beyond the traditional business sphere. For example, Dr. Ali Saeed Mohammad, Minister of Higher Education & Scientific Research, hopes to have more solid educational links between the United States and the Kurdistan Region, noting, “I hope that we have more and more fields and areas of cooperation, relations, and investment between the U.S. and Iraqi Kurdistan. We can benefit from U.S. expertise in the fields of higher education and scientific research.”
In meetings with other KRG ministers, the Governor of Sulaimani, and local business leaders, the willingness and desire to work more closely with American companies was unequivocal. This aspiration is motivated, in part, by a strong pro-American sentiment which was best expressed by a taxi driver in Erbil, who learning he had a group of Americans in his cab, proudly proclaimed, “The Kurds are more pro-American than most Americans are.”
This attitude is borne primarily from the removal of Saddam Hussein, who committed genocide against the Kurds during the Anfal campaign, by U.S.-led coalition forces and the preceding security guaranteed by the no-fly zone. Following the end of the first Gulf War in 1991, the Kurdistan Region was protected from Saddam’s fury through a U.S./UK enforced no-fly zone. This enabled the region to be the forerunner for progress and development in Iraq as the 2003 invasion liberated it from Saddam, led to the end of the sanctions against Iraq, and allowed the region to blossom.
It is true that tensions remain between the KRG and the central government in Baghdad as territorial and natural resource ownership issues remain unresolved. Despite this, foreign investment in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has been increasing annually for the past six years with it looking probable that 2012 will be a record year for foreign investment according to KRG estimates. Simply put, opportunities abound in the Kurdistan Region.
Coupling the substantial opportunities with the relative peace and stability of the region and the welcoming attitudes of its people and government, it becomes apparent that more American companies need to take a serious look at this dynamic, emerging market. The door to commercial opportunity is wide open in the Kurdistan Region, and now is the time for more American companies to walk through it.
Steve Lutes is the Director of the U.S.-Iraq Business Initiative at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Photo: On the road between Erbil and Sulaimani in the Kurdistan Region. By Steve Lutes.
This article was originally published in the Diplomatic Courier's January/February 2013 print edition.
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The Door of Opportunity is Open in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq
February 7, 2013
Construction cranes dot the skyline of the city. New Fords, Toyotas, and Chevys now command the roads that just a short time ago featured a long procession of rusting cars and trucks, relics of decades long forgotten. The lobbies of the city’s hotels bustle with business people from all over the globe, all of whom are eager to pursue new deals and make investments. Restaurants and parks are brimming in the evening with families and friends out together, just enjoying life.
The city is Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. While it is reputed to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, with the ancient Citadel standing tall in the city’s center, today it pulsates with modernity.
These images stand in stark contrast to our collective perception—the threat of violence at every turn, a community built on ruble and despair, and a citizenry hostile toward the West—cemented in the American psyche after years of war and occupation and the regular drum of news stories from Iraq featuring violence in the streets. However, it is these images that truly depict reality in the Kurdistan Region. It is a safe and welcoming place with a flourishing economy being driven by an ambitious populace and government— a place that is not so unlike America. This is the reality that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is striving to help more American businessmen and women discover in northern Iraq.
In April 2012, His Excellency Massoud Barzani, President of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) visited the headquarters of the U.S. Chamber in Washington, D.C. During his meeting with U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tom Donohue, President Barzani highlighted the flourishing business and investment climate in the Kurdistan Region and encouraged the Chamber to bring American companies to the region.
Fulfilling President Barzani’s request, the U.S. Chamber, in partnership with the U.S.-Kurdistan Business Council, led a delegation of twenty-nine American companies on a business mission to the Kurdistan Region in mid-October. Not only did this large delegation represent the U.S. Chamber’s commitment to bolstering the commercial relationship between the United States and the Kurdish community, it demonstrated the strong interest American businesses have in taking advantage of the vast opportunities in the region.
While meeting with President Barzani, he underlined the importance of involving the U.S. private sector in the continued development of the Kurdistan Region, proclaiming that it is “in need of the experience and knowledge of U.S. companies for building a solid infrastructure.”
The Chairman of the KRG Board of Investment, Minister Herish Muharam, echoed this sentiment, proclaiming that the Kurds are “very keen on strengthening business ties with American companies and we welcome you to invest in the Kurdistan Region. The government has very friendly investment laws and it is ready to guide you to the investment opportunities in Kurdistan.”
“We are ambitious, we aspire to great things,” he continued. “But we are also realistic and aware of our shortcomings and challenges, such as corruption, red tape, and inefficiency. We are taking concrete steps to tackle corruption, for example, through the Pricewaterhouse Coopers transparency initiative. To increase the efficiency of our Investment Board, we are delegating more of our operations to the provincial level so that we can focus on our vision and on the strategies that we need to achieve our vision.”
Falah Bakir, Head of the KRG’s Department of Foreign Relations, conveyed that U.S. investment in the Kurdistan Region will continue to strengthen the bonds between Americans, Kurds, and Iraqis, relating that, “We strongly encourage the U.S. government to support American business in our region and make that commitment known to the U.S. business community.”
The effort to strengthen the commercial relationship extends beyond the traditional business sphere. For example, Dr. Ali Saeed Mohammad, Minister of Higher Education & Scientific Research, hopes to have more solid educational links between the United States and the Kurdistan Region, noting, “I hope that we have more and more fields and areas of cooperation, relations, and investment between the U.S. and Iraqi Kurdistan. We can benefit from U.S. expertise in the fields of higher education and scientific research.”
In meetings with other KRG ministers, the Governor of Sulaimani, and local business leaders, the willingness and desire to work more closely with American companies was unequivocal. This aspiration is motivated, in part, by a strong pro-American sentiment which was best expressed by a taxi driver in Erbil, who learning he had a group of Americans in his cab, proudly proclaimed, “The Kurds are more pro-American than most Americans are.”
This attitude is borne primarily from the removal of Saddam Hussein, who committed genocide against the Kurds during the Anfal campaign, by U.S.-led coalition forces and the preceding security guaranteed by the no-fly zone. Following the end of the first Gulf War in 1991, the Kurdistan Region was protected from Saddam’s fury through a U.S./UK enforced no-fly zone. This enabled the region to be the forerunner for progress and development in Iraq as the 2003 invasion liberated it from Saddam, led to the end of the sanctions against Iraq, and allowed the region to blossom.
It is true that tensions remain between the KRG and the central government in Baghdad as territorial and natural resource ownership issues remain unresolved. Despite this, foreign investment in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has been increasing annually for the past six years with it looking probable that 2012 will be a record year for foreign investment according to KRG estimates. Simply put, opportunities abound in the Kurdistan Region.
Coupling the substantial opportunities with the relative peace and stability of the region and the welcoming attitudes of its people and government, it becomes apparent that more American companies need to take a serious look at this dynamic, emerging market. The door to commercial opportunity is wide open in the Kurdistan Region, and now is the time for more American companies to walk through it.
Steve Lutes is the Director of the U.S.-Iraq Business Initiative at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Photo: On the road between Erbil and Sulaimani in the Kurdistan Region. By Steve Lutes.
This article was originally published in the Diplomatic Courier's January/February 2013 print edition.
