In the presence of Mehmet Şimşek, Minister of Finance of the Republic of Turkey, Taif Sami, Minister of Finance of Iraq, Murat Ive, President and Founder of the Turkish-Iraqi Economic Forum, Kailan Haji Saeed, President of Erbil Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Shirin Yahya Khalil and Haji Faisal Gerdi, members of the Chamber's Executive Council, and a significant number of ambassadors and representatives of countries, presidents of Arab countries' chambers of commerce, investors, business owners, and government officials, today Thursday, in Istanbul, Turkey, the 16th Turkish-Arab Economic Forum was organized.
The forum opened with several speeches by Turkish government officials and Arab countries participating in this forum, where emphasis was placed in the speeches on developing economic and commercial relations, greater coordination, and investment between Arab countries and Turkey.
During this forum, Kailan Haji Saeed, President of Erbil Chamber of Commerce and Industry, delivered a speech in which he described the organization of this forum as an important opportunity to improve commercial relations and mutual interests.
Kailan Haji Saeed said: "As the Kurdistan Region, we have a very good relationship with the Republic of Turkey in all economic sectors, especially trade exchange, such that the volume of trade exchange between Turkey and Iraq annually is approximately 17 billion dollars, and the largest part of this exchange is through the Ibrahim Khalil International Gate in the Kurdistan Region."
The Chamber President highlighted in his speech the investment law in the Kurdistan Region, which provides complete facilities for foreign investors, and also said: "Many foreign companies and investors are currently in the Kurdistan Region, and Turkey has received the lion's share in all sectors."
At the end of his speech, the Chamber President hoped that the level of trade exchange and investment between Turkey and the Kurdistan Region would increase, and also called on attendees to encourage their companies and investors to turn towards the Kurdistan Region.
Also at this forum, with the participation of government officials and the private sector, four panels were organized, dedicated to addressing issues and developing economic coordination between Turkey and Arab countries.
It is worth mentioning that one panel was dedicated to highlighting the development of Iraq's economy in terms of energy, economic infrastructure, and financial markets, with the participation of the Chamber President, where several topics related to this theme were discussed.