ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – A Dutch business delegation is set to visit the Kurdistan Region “soon,” said Christoph Prommersberger, Charge d’Affaires at the Dutch Embassy in Iraq, on Monday.

In a meeting with Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani in Erbil, the Dutch diplomat said that a business delegation from his country “will soon visit to expand trade and economic cooperation” between the two sides, read a statement by the premier’s office after the meeting.

The meeting, which was also attended by Dutch Consul General in Erbil Adrian Eiselstein, saw Prommersberger reaffirm “his country’s commitment to further strengthening ties with the Kurdistan Region, commending the Region’s prosperity and culture of coexistence," the statement added.

Amsterdam and Erbil have long shared amicable relations. The Netherlands was a member state of the coalition that toppled former dictator Saddam Hussein’s regime and was later a key ally in the Global Coalition in the war against the Islamic State (ISIS).

The friendly relations between the two sides, however, extend beyond military cooperation only. The Kurdistan Region and the Netherlands held an economic forum in June that saw participation from more than 15 of the Region’s high-profile companies and featured top Dutch firms showcasing “the newest technology,” said the Dutch Consulate General in Erbil.

The Dutch agriculture ministry in March 2024 brought together farmers from Halabja and Duhok, two of the most geographically distant provinces in the Kurdistan Region, to facilitate knowledge exchange and bolster cooperation. The initiative saw Duhok farmers visit their counterparts in Halabja in the spring, with a second round of activities being held in Duhok in the fall of 2024.

Prime Minister Barzani expressed gratitude for the Dutch mission for “supporting the [Kurdistan Regional Government’s] KRG’s reform agenda, particularly in advancing economic diversification and developing the agricultural sector.”