Kurdish investors leave to invest in Iraq and abroad

Economy 01:53 PM - 2022-12-15

Kurdish investors leave to invest in Iraq and abroad

According to a Kurdish MP from the Gorran Movement, "businessmen in Erbil are leaving the city and heading to invest in Baghdad because of political instability and the dominance of party control over the law." Kurdish investors are also moving to Baghdad and other Iraqi cities with their money.

The Kurdistan Region's bad policies are driving away investors

Investors are dissatisfied and encouraged to relocate elsewhere, particularly from Erbil to other Iraqi cities, as a result of the weak governance practises in the Kurdistan Region, particularly in financial and commercial transactions, financial crises, and procedures.

"Businessmen in Erbil are leaving the city to invest in Baghdad because of political instability and the supremacy of party power over the law," Yasin Khazir, a member of the Kurdistan Parliament from the Gorran group, told PUKMEDIA.

"The Erbil investors are belittled and not compensated." "Since they feel they will be better protected in Baghdad, hundreds of investors are fleeing Erbil for this very evident reason," stated the Gorran faction's Kurdistan MP.

Some investors have departed the Kurdistan Region

Investment requires safety, tranquility, and complete facilities, but the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) failed to pay the investors and instead converted their funds into bank checks, resulting in significant losses for some of them.

Mala Yasin Mahmoud, President of the Kurdistan Investment Union (KIU), informed PUKMEDIA that "some of the investors have fled the Kurdistan Region." The other two components will move to Baghdad and abroad if the government's approach to investment remains the same.

The KIU President stated: "We will not tolerate taunts and extortion from investors in Erbil, and we invite the MPs to coordinate with us to stand united against this."

People are scared for their lives

Investors from Sulaymaniyah were once said to travel to Erbil for security, but this has changed as investors there are also leaving. "People are afraid for their lives," MP Khazir told PUKMEDIA.

He further stated: "Why would business people and the impoverished and powerless believe in stability in Erbil to invest if the law is not upheld and the Deputy Prime Minister's home is cornered? This is the reason that no one in Erbil owns anything."

"I have a lot of proof and the names of businesses that have emigrated to other countries or escaped to Baghdad and paid a lot of money for a Dominican passport. Investors in Erbil are fleeing for their lives out of fear. "We need real reform in this environment, not simply platitudes and words without actions,"

Routine, injustice, and instability are created for investors

Many investors have money put in banks, but when they go to get it back, they discover that the KRG has already spent it. This demonstrates the KRG administration's poor governance and ignorance, which has made investors lose faith in this government.

The KIU President stated that a significant number of investors had left the Kurdistan Region and relocated to cities in central and southern Iraq in order to complete large-scale projects. Some had even departed the country altogether.

 "Our investors depart for Baghdad and other countries because, in addition to all the routine, injustice, and instability generated for investors, there is domestic and foreign policy in the Kurdistan Region that prohibits the Kurdistan Region from going further," he continued.

Job opportunities and investment will be lost in the Kurdistan Region

An economist believes that the predicament of investors in the capital and other provinces of the Kurdistan Region, as well as their relocation, is worrisome.

"Investors have the freedom to broaden the area of their work, but it is unfortunate when an investor quits his work in the region and goes to Baghdad or another nation," Dr. Khalid Haider, a professor at Sulaymaniyah University and an expert in economics, told PUKMEDIA.

"Investment migration to Baghdad will decrease the state's employment prospects, revenues, and trade exchanges." We have already witnessed this phenomenon in the past when it led to economic collapse and youth migration. That’s why it is the responsibility of the government to establish circumstances that will encourage investors to fund initiatives."

Investors are fleeing the Kurdistan Region for Baghdad to obtain work permits as a result of the region's unfavourable attitude toward investors. 60% of investors in central and southern Iraqi cities are from the Kurdistan Region, as per data gathered by PUKMEDIA.



Translated from Kurdish and edited by Hiran Halwan, Additional editing by Zareena Younis
PUKMEDIA