2023-09-12 19:54:15
Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg is continuing his visit to Iraq in the Autonomous Region of Kurdistan on Wednesday. In the capital Erbil, in addition to a bilateral economic forum, there are meetings with the President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Nechervan Barzani, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, the head of the nationalist-conservative Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP), Massoud Barzani, and the Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church , Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako, planned.
The oil-rich Kurdistan-Iraq region in the north of the country is of great interest as an economic partner. The oil company OMV has been active in the region since 2007, in the Bina Bawi, Shorish and Mala Omar exploration blocks and through a stake in Pearl Petroleum Company Limited (PPCLD). The airline Austrian (AUA) is also present locally and offers direct flights between Vienna and Erbil.
According to the Chamber of Commerce (WKO), trade relations between Iraq and Austria have generally grown recently. Austrian exports to Iraq amounted to 94.5 million euros in 2022, increasing by 25.4 percent compared to the previous year. The most important product group for Austrian export goods was mechanical devices worth 14.5 million euros, which corresponds to an increase of 90.4 percent compared to the previous year. According to the WKO, taking into account the security situation, opportunities for Austrian companies exist primarily in the areas of infrastructure, energy, agriculture (irrigation), construction (housing) as well as in the consumer goods (food and beverages) and health sectors (pharmaceutical goods).
In the ethnically mixed region, riots recently broke out between rival groups, which even resulted in deaths in Kirkuk, for example. The city, which is important for oil production, is under the control of the central government, but is also claimed by the Kurdish autonomous government in northern Iraq.
Schallenberg (ÖVP) met President Abdul Latif Rashid, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani and Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein in Baghdad on Tuesday. In addition, the Austrian embassy in Baghdad was ceremoniously reopened.
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