ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – A delegation from the Kurdistan Region is set to visit Baghdad in the next 48 hours to hold talks with Iraqi officials regarding a number of financial disputes between Erbil and Baghdad.

The New Region has learned that Omed Sabah, head of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Diwan of Council of Ministers, is set to lead the delegation.

The visit is set to include talks on the implementation of the ASYCUDA customs system in the Kurdistan Region, and the trade embargo imposed on the Region’s businessmen.

Erbil and Baghdad have been at loggerheads over the implementation of the ASYCUDA international customs system. The Iraqi government has implemented the system and is forcing the KRG to do the same in an effort to centralize customs revenues and expenditures. Kurdish authorities have requested more time.

Since the start of the year, the Iraqi government has placed a dollar embargo on the Kurdistan Region’s businessmen, withholding US dollar access from Kurdish traders at the official exchange rate set by the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI), citing what they regard as Erbil’s non-compliance with ASYCUDA.

The New Region has learned that a delegation from Baghdad is also set to visit Erbil in the coming days, aiming to address the same issues.

In March, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani proposed a version of the system tailored for the Kurdistan Region, supervised by the KRG, which would see Erbil retain the customs revenues and forward 50 percent of it to Baghdad within the framework of the Erbil-Baghdad budget agreement.

Barzani on Thursday said that Iraq’s newly-elected Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi and political forces want to “turn a new page” with Erbil, noting continued efforts to resolve outstanding disputes with Baghdad.

“What we [the KRG] heard from both him [Zaidi] and political forces was encouraging,” Barzani told reporters.

The delegations are also set to discuss the issue of sharing the Kurdistan Region’s non-oil revenues with Baghdad. The Kurdistan Region currently hands over 120 billion dinars on a monthly basis in domestic revenues in exchange for civil servant salary funds from the Iraqi government.

The New Region understands that the Kurdish delegation is set to push for reducing the monthly amount sent in non-oil revenues.