By Bosphorus News Economy Desk
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani pledged to support Turkish investors during talks in Erbil on October 27, as a business delegation toured Iraq and discussed the Development Road.
The visitors, members of Türkiye's Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK), outlined plans for new projects and expanded operations in the Kurdistan Region. Barzani said his government would help facilitate trade and investment. Türkiye's ambassador to Iraq, Anıl Bora İnan, and its consul general in Erbil, Erman Topçu, attended the meeting.
The delegation is scheduled to visit Erbil, Mosul, Kirkuk and Baghdad from October 26 to 30 under a programme organized by DEİK's Türkiye-Iraq Business Council. Its agenda includes meetings with Iraqi officials and companies across transport, oil, logistics, construction, manufacturing, agriculture and food. The KRG statement disclosed no signed investment contracts or project values.
The Development Road also featured in the discussions. The proposed rail and road corridor would connect Iraq's Gulf coast with Türkiye and Europe, but its northern route remains disputed. The KRG described the project as a link that would include the Kurdistan Region.
The dispute over the northern route
A September 23 study by Özge Genç and Berkay Mandıracı for the Middle East Council on Global Affairs found that the planned route would largely bypass Erbil and Duhok. It would reach Türkiye through the proposed Fishkhabur–Ovaköy crossing, offering Baghdad an alternative to the existing Ibrahim Khalil–Habur trade gateway. Erbil wants the corridor to pass through more of Duhok.
Baghdad and Ankara have continued work on the corridor. Iraq's Transport Ministry said in September that negotiators had completed a draft implementation agreement covering legal, technical and financial arrangements. The draft still needed higher approval before signature. Earlier memoranda had addressed the new border link and infrastructure financing.
Existing cross-border trade depends heavily on Ibrahim Khalil–Habur. In July, Türkiye's Trade Minister Ömer Bolat called for Ibrahim Khalil to be integrated into Iraq's ASYCUDA customs system and cited a bilateral trade target of $30 billion.
During Barzani's May visit to Istanbul, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also backed implementation of the Development Road, according to the Turkish Presidency. On October 27, Barzani separately met Ambassador İnan and Consul General Topçu to discuss bilateral relations, the reactivation of the Kurdistan Parliament and the formation of a new KRG cabinet.
Sources: Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister's Office, Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) via International Transporters' Association (UND), Türkiye's Ministry of Trade, Iraqi Ministry of Transport, Middle East Council on Global Affairs, Bosphorus News review and reporting.