KRI-Turkiye annual trade tops $10B
Shafaq News- Al-Sulaymaniyah
Annual trade between Turkiye and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) exceeds $10 billion, with both sides seeking to increase the figure through expanded commercial and investment cooperation, a Kurdish trade official said on Monday.
Speaking during a press conference, Mustafa Sheikh Abdulrahman, head of the Kurdistan Region Importers and Exporters Union, said Al-Sulaymaniyah hosted a delegation from Turkiye’s Independent Industrialists and Businessmen's Association (MÜSİAD) for direct talks with local traders on new trade opportunities.
He outlined efforts to strengthen economic relations with Erbil, Al-Sulaymaniyah, Duhok, and Halabja, as well as Kirkuk, including plans for cooperation agreements and protocols ahead of a joint forum aimed at opening wider opportunities for companies and investors.
In July, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi chaired a roundtable with Turkish business leaders in Ankara, where the two countries set a medium-term bilateral trade target of $30 billion, focusing on investment, energy, and transport. Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat put the current Iraq-Turkiye trade at about $17 billion and identified the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline, a proposed Basra-Ceyhan pipeline, and the Development Road linking Iraq’s Grand Faw Port to Europe through Turkiye as key priorities for expanding economic links.
