ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - China has proposed establishing an automotive industry hub in the Kurdistan Region where cars would be assembled, an official told The New Region on Wednesday.

Spokesperson of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) investment board Bargasht Akrayi told The New Region that a meeting was held with the Chinese Consul General in Erbil Liu Jun where they discussed business exchange between the two governments.

“He said because we have seen that Kurdish people have received Chinese products very well, we are ready to establish an industrial hub specifically for the automotive industry so that the different car brands can import parts and assemble them here,” Akrayi said, citing the consul.

Due to their affordability, Chinese cars have come in high demand in the Kurdistan Region in recent years.

“If this is established, it will open not tens but hundreds of job opportunities for our people in the Kurdistan Region and most importantly, they will learn this kind of work which will be very good for the Kurdistan Region’s future,” Akrayi added.

The spokesperson said the proposal was well-received and the KRG is ready to do whatever is needed to facilitate the process, including providing land. “It will be a very big area, it might be hundreds of dunams.”

A dunam is a unit of land measurement used in the Middle East. One Dunam is 1,000 square meters.

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

Akrayi said once the hub is established, the amount of car parts will increase, in turn making them cheaper as well.

In November last year, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani laid the foundation for the second phase of building the Golden Technology 2 factory, which is the first undertaking in the Region to produce electronics, with the capacity to produce more than 100,000 mobile phones and smart tablets monthly. The initiative was in coordination with a Chinese company.

Also in September, Barzani oversaw the opening of a pre-inspection center of Toyota in Duhok, in the presence of Japanese Ambassador to Iraq Akira Endo. The initiative is for Duhok to become the inspection and distribution hub of all Toyota vehicles entering Iraq before being exported to other cities in the country.