ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Sulaimani and China's Yiwu have officially become sister cities, agreeing to enhance trade, cultural, educational, and agricultural ties, according to a memorandum of understanding signed on Thursday between Sulaimani Governor Haval Abubakir and local authorities of Yiwu.
"Iraq is a very important country in the Belt and Road. So we always attach big importance to the friendship between this province and your province, and we hope the exchange in the business community of the two parts will be closer and closer," Chen Huidong, deputy director of the Foreign Affairs Office for Zhejiang province, told Rudaw's Mahdi Faraj.
China’s Belt and Road Initiative is a massive infrastructure and investment project to expand trade routes.
"We want to bring more Iraqi products to our province, and also you are welcome to buy anything you want from the Yiwu market,” Huidong added, predicting that Yiwu plans to sign similar agreements with other Iraqi cities.
The signing took place during the 6th Zhejiang International Friendship Cities Exchange Exhibition and a day before Sulaimani celebrated the 241th anniversary of its founding.
Yiwu, in eastern China, is best known for its International Trade City, the world's largest wholesale market for small commodities.
Sulaimani Governor Abubakir described Yiwu as "the capital of the world economy."
"Over the course of the past eight years, we made Sulaimani very popular as the local government is paying attention to small and medium-sized businesses," Abubakir told Rudaw. "Sulaimani's foundation in terms of human resources, finance, financial assets, and infrastructure pushed the Chinese to choose Sulaimani. Yiwu chose Sulaimani as its sister city."
According to the governor, Sulaimani has direct contact with nearly 700 cities worldwide across multiple fields.
"We have a strong Kurdish diaspora here who can truly represent the Kurdistan Region," Abubakir said. "In the near future, a delegation from Yiwu's local authorities will visit the Kurdistan Region."
The head of the Kurdish trade center in Yiwu, Kamil Ahmed, said he believes the sister city agreement will be “a great support to the economy of our country.”
China and Iraq do 55 billion dollars worth of trade annually.
Mahdi Faraj contributed to this report.
