ERBIL, Kurdistan Region in Iraq - Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Friday met with Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, discussing regional developments and the need to strengthen bilateral cooperation.

“We agreed to continue to strengthen the cooperation between the Kurdistan Region and the UAE in support of stability, development, and shared interests,” the Kurdish premier wrote on X on his meeting with the Emirati top diplomat, who also serves as deputy prime minister.

“The meeting also discussed the overall developments of the situation in Iraq,” as well as developments taking place in the region, read a Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) statement.

Barzani arrived in the UAE on Thursday, being received by Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s deputy prime minister and minister of interior, with whom he discussed prospects for enhancing bilateral relations.

The Kurdistan Region Prime Minister later met with Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, thanking the UAE for “its continued support and cooperation, according to a statement from the KRG, adding two leaders agreed on the importance of strengthening bilateral relations “in all fields.”

Relations between Abu Dhabi and Erbil have seen major improvements under the KRG’s ninth cabinet.

Prime Minister Barzani has paid several visits to the UAE since 2019, and has already met with the Emirati president twice in 2025.

Speaking at the World Governments Summit in Dubai in February, the Kurdish premier said “UAE has been a model that we've been looking up to, and really has helped us to accelerate the changes and the reforms that we have done in our region.”

In October, Prime Minister Barzani received an Emirati delegation in Erbil to discuss the expansion of bilateral cooperation and more than 30 Emiriati initiatives "designed to bring UAE expertise to the Kurdistan Region."

The projects include a centralized Performance Management System (PMS) for the KRG, which will reimagine the government’s ability to monitor its departments, and the Kurdistan Coders Program, aimed at upskilling the Kurdistan Region’s youth across all provinces in digital and coding skills.

The Emirati foreign ministry appointed Minister of State Saeed Mubarak Rashid al-Hajeri as its Envoy for Special Affairs to the Kurdistan Region in September. Hajeri led a high-level delegation, including several ministers, to Erbil, making Tuesday’s event the second key visit by UAE officials to the Kurdistan Region in just over two months.

Hajeri’s visit was preceded just days earlier in early September by a delegation from the KRG’s Board of Investment to the UAE to attend a conference promoting investment in the Kurdistan Region, with Emirati investment in the Region reportedly valued at over $3.3 billion.