Dear Participants

Unfortunately, I cannot be with you today here, but I hope and expect that the 2014 annual Kurdistan-Iraq Oil and Gas Conference will be a success.

Thanks to the CWC group for organizing this conference, and next year, we look forward to seeing you all again in Erbil.

As you all know, we are at the end of difficult year for the Kurdistan Region, for Iraq, and for the Middle East.

First, I want to pay tribute to our brave Peshmerga who today are defending the people of Kurdistan and beyond with great skill and courage.

We also pay our respects to those Peshmerga who have lost their lives in the defence of our country and as part of the international fight against extremism and terrorism.

We will always remember them and we pray also for those who have been injured in this war and wish them a speedy recovery.

We hope that Iraq will soon overcome these problems.

Dear guests, as you are all aware, the KRG and people of Kurdistan have faced two further major challenges this year in addition to the fight against the terrorists of the Islamic State (IS).

First: The wave of 1.5 million Syrian refugees and internally displaced people into the Kurdistan Region

Second: The complicated relationship with the previous government in Baghdad, which deprived us of our entire budget for 2014.

Just one of these problems alone would be enough to destabilize most of the countries around the world of similar size to Kurdistan.

Yet our people remain resolute in our determination to ensure stability and security.

Now, we are at a new cross roads and I am pleased to say that the new government in Baghdad under Prime Minister Abadi has shown a desire to press the reset button in its relations with Kurdistan.

We hope next year will see further progress on this.

We want to see an inclusive system of rule in Iraq that shares power and revenues among all its diverse communities.

The recent oil agreement with Baghdad sends a positive signal that Prime Minister Abadi is also committed to finding practical answers to some of Iraq’s unresolved issues.

I believe he agrees with me that the people of Kurdistan and of Iraq deserve a brighter future. They deserve freedom, liberty, economic stability and a more robust democracy.

With the backing of our Peshmerga, our fellow citizens, our international friends and allies, and business partners at home and abroad, we can achieve better results and make greater dreams come true.

And we thank and value the international oil companies who have trusted us with their investment and paved the way for at least the first part of our dreams of a brighter future for our people.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge that our solid, strategic partnership with Turkey has greatly contributed to our stability and alleviated some of our difficulties. And we will continue to strengthen our relationship as well as with our eastern neighbour, Iran.

I wish you once more a stimulating, successful and profitable conference.

Thank you