site.btaPresident Radev: Bulgaria Values Partnership with Iraqi Kurdistan

Bulgaria highly values its partnership with Iraq and the country's autonomous Kurdistan Region, and wants to expand it in areas of shared interest, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev told Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Saturday, Radev's press secretariat reported. The two met on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkiye.

Radev noted the strong tradition of Bulgarian-Iraqi relations and expressed his country's willingness to continue to work for upgrading them in the field of energy, the economy, tourism and education.

Barzani said Kurdistan Region seeks to serve as a stability factor in the region and to promote its economic and trade relations with its partners.

Discussing bilateral cooperation, the two noted the possibility to supply crude oil from Iraq to Bulgaria, to expand the business of Bulgarian tour operators into the autonomous Kurdistan Region and advertise the regional capital Erbil as a travel destination, and to cooperate in agriculture and food production.

They recalled the positive results of two forums of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) with businesspeople from the cities of Erbil and Mosul, held in May and October 2023, respectively, and the memorandum of understanding between the BCCI and the Erbil Chamber of Commerce and Industry, signed in May 2023.

Barzani invited Radev to visit Iraq, including Erbil, to continue the political dialogue at the highest level and identify new areas of bilateral cooperation.