ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Kurdistan Region’s Board of Investment has issued 120 investment permits since the start of the year, and expects to reach 200 permits by the end of 2025, the body’s head told The New Region on Saturday.

Chairman of the Kurdistan Region's Board of Investment Mohammed Shukri told The New Region that “since the beginning of this year, 120 investment permits have been issued to investors across all regions, and work is being done so that by the end of this year, the number of permits reaches 200.”

Since 2023, 458 investment permits have been issued to investors in the Kurdistan Region, with projects in the fields of tourism, industry, agriculture, health, and education taking precedent.

The issuance of investment permits involves around 300 steps, and the Kurdistan Region's Board of Investment is working to digitalize some parts of the procedure to simplify the process for potential investors.

Around 63 percent of the total investment capital in the Kurdistan Region is domestic, more than 36 percent is foreign capital, while co-investment partnerships constitute 0.27 percent of the total number.

A delegation of the US Chamber of Commerce and a number of US investors, consisting of 32 companies, arrived in Erbil last week, aiming to expand investment in the sectors of gas production, technology, health, and agriculture in the Kurdistan Region.

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani reiterated the Kurdistan Region’s “readiness to provide all assistance to domestic and foreign investors,” in a meeting with the American delegation.

Kurdistan Region’s Interior Minister Reber Ahmed at an investment conference last week stated that the Region’s investment laws and incentives “make Kurdistan one of the most business-friendly environments in the region,” noting that the ministry has made necessary steps so that “investors have confidence in the long-term stability of their projects.”

In January, Barzani led a delegation of 11 Kurdish investors and businessmen to the World Economic Forum in Davos, where they met with world leaders to strengthen relations with the international community, particularly in the sectors of trade and investment, and to develop the economy of the Kurdistan Region.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has increased efforts in recent times to diversify its sources of revenue and make the Region an appealing destination for international businesses to invest in.

Over 3,600 foreign companies are currently operating in the Kurdistan Region, according to official figures.

Reporting by Hevi Karam