Kurdistan delegation arrives in Manila

MANILA, Philippines — A Kurdistan diplomatic and trade mission from Iraq has arrived in the country for a series of meetings aimed at improving trade and tourism in the Philippines.

Kurdistan officials met with their counterparts from the Departments of Trade and Industry (DTI) and of Tourism from May 24 to 25.

Philippine Consul in Kurdistan Falah Anwar and Philippine embassy Third Secretary and Vice Consul Cristopher Castillo headed the mission.

Baghdad representatives from the Ministry of Trade, investment and tourism and the Chamber of Commerce of Filipinos formed the mission to improve relations between Kurdistan and the Philippines in areas of trade and tourism.

They urged the new Philippine government to remove Iraq or (only Kurdistan) from the list of forbidden countries.

DTI representatives briefed members of the mission on exports and products while tourism representatives gave an overview on why “it’s fun in the Philippines.”

At present, the country exports bananas to Kurdistan, which is also interested in importing poultry products like eggs. Kurdistan exports crude oil.

The mission also met with business executives and tourism operators, who brought them to various tourist spots in Clark, Subic and Tagaytay.

Filipino workers in Erbil, Kurdistan who were to come home with the mission visited real estate giant SMDC condominiums and housing projects for sale. There are over 2,000 Filipinos working in Erbil.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has given Filipino community in Erbil Balik-Mangagawa privileges so they can come home for vacation following a two-year travel ban due to the pandemic.