ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – More than 43,000 firms and factories have been registered in the Kurdistan Region, of which 3,000 are foreign enterprises, an official told The New Region on Friday.

“Of the 43,000 companies registered in the Kurdistan Region, more than 3,000 are foreign companies and 400 are Iraqi firms,” said Blind Mohammed, director of the General Directorate of Company Registration.

“The large number of foreign and Iraqi companies reflects the confidence of trade in the Kurdistan Region,” he added.

The KRG has aimed to cultivate a business-friendly atmosphere in the Kurdistan Region, in a bid to support entrepreneurs, by easing the registration process and lowering the cost of registering a firm or factory.

Mohammed announced in January 2025 that nearly 40,000 companies—local and foreign—were registered and active in the Region companies. This shows that over 3,000 new businesses have been registered in the year and a half since.

More than 7,000 companies registered in the Kurdistan Region in two years after the Erbil eased registration requirements, Mohammed told The New Region in December. 

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

Since 2019, over 8,000 people 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.