Last week, as the United States was heading into the Thanksgiving holiday, our Mission in Washington DC was collaborating with the US Chamber of Commerce in a virtual conference, focusing on the Kurdistan Region’s economic priorities.

The conference not only underscored the strong diplomatic and security ties that bind Kurdistan Region and the United States, but also provided an opportunity to explore the Kurdistan Regional Government’s economic strategy, the Region’s potential, and to keep the door to business open, especially for our American friends.

We were honored to have Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and US Deputy Secretary of Energy Mark Menezes deliver keynote speeches at the two-day event.

There were several panel discussions that included KRG ministers and high-level American officials from the State Department and Department of Energy, which discussed the progress Kurdistan has made in reform and efficiency and its plans to diversify and further open the economy.

American and Kurdish companies also participated, including Honeywell, Pepsi, Citi, and Kurdish start-up Lezzoo.

Videos of the two days of the conference are available and can be found in this newsletter.

One of the disappointments of this month was the passing of the deficit funding law by the Iraqi parliament, which was clearly designed to sow divisions. The law allows the Iraqi federal government to borrow $10 billion to cover government expenses in the last quarter of 2020. 

The law requires the KRG to hand over all its oil revenues and customs income to Baghdad, which is unsustainable under current circumstances, as outlined by Mike Knights of the Washington Institute in this newsletter. The implementation of this law would mean that Iraqi civil servants would be able to receive their salaries, except if they are in the Kurdistan Region.

Kurdistani leaders were not alone in speaking out vehemently against this polarizing move in the Iraqi Parliament. Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General, told the UN Security Council, ‘It should be clear, however, that a Kurdish Region public servant is not only a Kurdish Region public servant: she or he is also an Iraqi citizen. The payment of public civil servants should be shielded from political disputes, they cannot and should not be collectively victimized. A solution is urgent, and political will to find a way out will - once more – be of the greatest importance.’

 

Fortunately, the agreement that the KRG had struck with Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhimi appears to be holding and the KRG will receive monthly transfers for now. In the meantime, the KRG has reiterated its readiness to resolve disputes with the federal government, in accordance with the Iraqi constitution.

 

A different, but just as entrenched problem that plagues Kurdistan and Iraq, is highlighted in this month’s Kurdistan In American podcast. The podcast features a discussion on landmines and unexploded ordnance that make Kurdistan and Iraq as a whole among the most mine-contaminated countries in the world. The guest this month is Kathy Keary of the Mines Advisory Group (MAG). Ms. Keary, who lived in Erbil for some time, outlines the life-saving work of MAG, which has worked in the Kurdistan Region for three decades, helping communities to clear their towns and villages of landmines and other explosives. MAG’s work in Sinjar was featured in a documentary called Into The Fire by Oscar-winning filmmaker Orlando von Einsiedel. Into The Fire tells the story of Hana Khider, a Yazidi and a MAG team leader in Sinjar, working to rid her community of the deadly improvised landmines planted by ISIS.

You can find the link to the podcast in this newsletter.

Representative to the United States

Kurdistan Regional Government

The Kurdistan In America podcast welcomes Kathy Keary from the Mines Advisory Group, known as MAG, which has been working in Kurdistan Region in Iraq since 1992. Ms. Keary says that Kurdistan Region alone would be in the top five most contaminated countries in the world affected by landmines and unexploded ordnance, while Iraq as a whole is in the top three. Find out in this interview what MAG is doing to empower local communities in Kurdistan, Sinjar, and across Iraq to clear their farms, villages, and towns from these deadly devices.

Post Covid-19 Economic Priorities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, a virtual conference hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with the KRG Representation in the United States. Video of Day 1, November 23.

Post Covid-19 Economic Priorities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, a virtual conference hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with the KRG Representation in the United States. Video of Day 2, November 24.

Representative Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman briefed members of the World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts on Thursday, November 12 on the growing partnership between the Kurdistan Region and the United States.