"Stability here is not understood in the world yet," Minister of Tourism Nimrud Baito said. "We need a media revolution to let people know that the Kurdistan region is something different from Iraq, especially as far as security goes. We think (conditions) here are only going to get better and better."
Faith in the future has attracted massive investment from one unlikely source -- neighboring Turkey.
Hundreds of diesel trucks rumble across the northern border each day with steel, concrete and other raw materials to feed a construction boom, despite heated rhetoric by Turkish officials over the Iraqi Kurds' unspoken bid for independence. Of nearly 600 foreign companies registered in the region, about 350 are Turkish.
Board of Investment leader Herish Muhamad says the Kurdish region expects rapid growth, thanks to a business-friendly climate that gives "maximum" rights to investors -- minimal state interference or bureaucratic red tape; the freedom to repatriate capital abroad or shut down anytime, or to import workers from anywhere in the world; a 10-year tax exemption, and no customs duties for five years on imported materials.
Jason Motlagh
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