I strongly welcome the Kurdistan Parliament’s passage of the amended ‘Electronic Signatures and Transactions’ federal bill today. The passage of this important piece of legislation — a collaborative effort across the whole of government with support of global best practices and expertise — means we have taken another big, critical step in the cabinet’s digital transformation agenda, and our promise to become a fully digital government by 2025.

In all my conversations with the youth, entrepreneurs, business owners and investors, I have been reminded of the untapped potential our lands hold in human capital. Their calls for digitalization, banking sector reform, tax transparency and the elimination of red tape have been well heard. And in and through incubators across Kurdistan, young leaders have already made an impact in their communities and online. Their progress has shown that when the government makes the necessary space and resources available for our talented citizens to grow, extraordinary progress can happen.

That’s why we prioritized this bill in this cabinet; to provide the legal framework necessary for citizens and businesses, and the government as a whole to pivot to digital signatures. We can’t do this alone; Kurdistan’s digital future and true potential requires all arms of society to work together.

I commend the Kurdistan Parliament and its leadership for their support to this effort and legislation.