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Iraqi Kurdistan to showcase region for foreign investment

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq, March 12, 2007 (AFP) - Iraq's relatively peaceful northern Kurdistan region is to stage a trade fair this week in a bid to attract foreign investment, an official said on Monday.

Othman Shwani, the Kurdistan administration's planning minister, said around 500 companies from the United States and the United Arab Emirates are expected to participate in the fair in the city of Sulaimaniyah Wednesday and Thursday.

The fair is aimed at "encouraging foreign companies to invest in Iraq's Kurdistan," Shwani told a press conference in Sulaimaniyah.

About 160 Kurdish enterprises will also take part.

"We will endeavour to showcase the investment opportunities available in Kurdistan," Shwani said.

Kurdistan's three provinces of Sulaimaniyah, Arbil and Dohuk are peaceful compared to the war-ravaged country's central and western regions where a bitter sectarian strife and a raging anti-US insurgency have left tens of thousands dead.

Kurdistan, an autonomous region within Iraq, has announced liberal investment laws aimed at attracting foreign companies, including oil concerns.