ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - More than 7,000 companies registered in the Kurdistan Region in two years after the government eased business registration requirements in a move to support entrepreneurs, an official said Saturday.

Bilind Mohammed, head of the General Directorate of Company Registration, told The New Region that the development came about after the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) streamlined the process, making it easier and cheaper to register.

“Previously, establishing a company required two months, now all procedures are completed in just three days. Also, company registration fees have been reduced from two million dinars [around $1,500] to only 163 thousand dinars [$124],” Mohammed said.

“This has resulted in the establishment of more than seven thousand new companies in just two years, creating job opportunities for hundreds of youth,” he added.

Mohammed announced earlier in January that nearly 40,000 companies were registered and active in the Kurdistan Region, including over 3,500 foreign companies.

Last month, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said that his cabinet has created over 140,000 jobs for young people in the private sector, while offering the KRG’s support for business owners.

Since 2019, over 8,000 have benefited from the KRG’s small projects support fund, and around 2.75 billion dinars (more than $2.1 million) has been allocated for long-term loans supporting small and medium-sized enterprises as part of Project Bloom.