An 86-strong UK delegation, led by Arlene Foster (Northern Ireland Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Investment) and Meg Munn (Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Kurdistan), attended the opening of the Erbil International Trade Fair on 24 October 2011, in the Iraq Kurdistan Region (IKR). In attendance were HE President Masoud Barzani and Barham Salih, the KRG Prime Minister; as well as 850 companies from 25 countries. The Exhibition saw major participation from international companies, specializing in transportation, health, education, construction, agriculture and trade.

This year, with a very strong commercial presence, the UK received top billing. Minister Foster and Ms Munn were invited to open the Fair in full media glare – and this received top billing in the local papers (above).

The President went straight to the UK and Northern Ireland stands and lingered. PM Salih delightedly pointed out to the President the stands of the two universities he had received his masters and PhD (Cardiff and Liverpool). Nine UK universities were represented at the Fair in total. The Prime Minister praised the UK’s visa service for students. 85% of the fully financed scholarships under theKRG’s Human Capacity Development Programme (HCDP) have gone to UK universities (1,200 at last count with another 3,000 placements yet to be filled).

In his opening remarks the Erbil Governor cited the strong UK presence as the highlight of the Fair.

Ms Foster and Ms Munn had a separate call on President Barzani – the only delegation to see him – which was notably warm. The President was clearly delighted that after a slow start, British and Northern Ireland companies were now leading players in sectors such as hydrocarbons and higher education and that British and Northern Irish small and medium sized enterprises were so active.