ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – British bank Standard Chartered officially opened its first branch in Erbil on Monday, which is expected to assist the Kurdistan Region become better connected to international financial institutions and ease bank transactions with the world.
"No section of the economy can succeed in the new globalized system alone if it’s not connected to the circles of global production,” Kurdistan Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani told guests at the opening ceremony.
"I am sure the existence of this bank will assist us in entering the production markets and the world markets," he added.
The Kurdistan Region has remained a relative haven of peace in violence-ridden Iraq, its economy booming as the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) works to rapidly rebuild infrastructure destroyed by decades of past conflicts.
Now, the Kurds are getting ready for substantial energy exports to Turkey and the world, once a dispute over revenues is resolved with the central government in Baghdad.
In his speech, Barzani emphasized the importance of helping financial institutions in Kurdistan regain the trust of people and local investors. He expressed confidence that having Standard Chartered in Erbil would help achieve this goal.
“I believe the time has come for us to seriously examine international financial practices and carefully consider how modern banking can help families and businesses to manage their wealth,” he said.
“I have no doubt that the presence of Standard Chartered will help us move forward in this regard,” he added.
The Kurdistan Region and the United Kingdom have strengthened economic and diplomatic relations, with 120 British companies operating in the Kurdish enclave in various fields.
Britain’s Consul General in Erbil, Hugh Evans, added his trust that the bank would contribute to further bolstering Kurdish-British relations.
“The bank will be very important to Kurdistan and will emphasize on financial support and providing banking services, and in result the economic relation between Kurdistan Region and Britain will be strengthened,” he said.
The KRG premier, meanwhile, vowed to support public banks in providing better services and being able to remain in the market and compete with private banks.
"We recognize that in the past the public banks have had many problems and did not play their part effectively,” he noted. “The banks under the public sector have not been the factor of financial stability, and it’s possible to think about improving such banks to strengthen them and compete with the private banks."
Barzani admitted that there are challenges ahead in Kurdistan, because the financial sector has not been institutionalized. But he expressed confidence that Standard Chartered would help toward this goal.
Standard Chartered opened its first Iraq branch in Baghdad in November and announced last month its intention to open its second branch in Erbil.
The bank becomes the 74th private bank in the Kurdistan Region, where the total capital of all private banks totals some 8.5 trillion Iraqi Dinars.
