Kurdistan
President of the Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani (left) and Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani (right) meet in Erbil on March 24, 2021. Photo: handout/Kurdistan Region Presidency
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — President Nechirvan Barzani encouraged Qatari investment the Kurdistan Region when he met with Doha’s deputy prime minister on Wednesday.
Barzani received Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani in Erbil and they discussed “strengthening of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region’s relations with Qatar, developments in the wider region, and the importance of cooperation to secure regional peace and stability,” read a statement from Kurdistan Region’s Presidency.
“The president underlined that the peace and stability and the investment laws in the Kurdistan Region support the private sector and Qatari investments in the Region and Iraq,” the statement added.
Al-Thani arrived in Baghdad on Wednesday where he met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi before going to Erbil.
He brought with him a letter for Barzani from Qatar’s prime minister that addressed “bilateral relations and ways of enhancing and developing them,” according to a statement from his office.
He also extended a formal invitation to Barzani to visit Doha and announced Qatar will open a consulate in Erbil, a move welcomed by Barzani as “a further step to strengthen ties between Kurdistan Region and Qatar.”
Qatar first expressed an interest in opening a consulate in the Kurdistan Region in 2019, during a visit to Erbil by the Qatari ambassador to Baghdad and a high profile business delegation.
Al-Thani visited Erbil in January last year with a team of investors to discuss options to improve trade and business relations between Qatar and the Kurdistan Region.
During an interview with Rudaw’s Mustafa Goran in Baghdad on Wednesday, Al-Thani said Kurdistan Region’s role in Iraq’s national dialogue is “important and essential,” adding that national dialogue needs to be “comprehensive” and “include all components of Iraq despite ethnic and religious differences.”
He also encouraged Barzani as having a “positive role in stabilizing Iraq and creating a national environment that is comprehensive.”
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