Kurdish - Italian Trade Cooperation

Italy remains the only European country to hold successive fairs in Erbil, and Italian companies are finding their niches in multiple sectors in the Region.

Erbil hosted the fourth exhibition of the Italian Trade Exhibition from Saturday, June 12, to Tuesday, June 15. The exhibition, organized by Axis Fairs & Services S.r.l., an Italian Fair and Exhibition Company, and sponsored by the Italian Ministry of Economic Development and the Kurdistan Regional Government, was organized at the Erbil International Fair Ground in Sami Abdurrahman Park.

Approximately 100 Italian construction, home appliance, food, and agriculture companies participated in the exhibition, which attracted hundreds of visitors and investors each day.

Axis Fairs organized the first Italian Expo in 2006, bringing some 80 Italian companies in various sectors, the first of its kind in Kurdistan. Now after four years, Italy is still the only European and developed country with a solo exhibition in Kurdistan. The last three exhibitions, all organized by Axis and held at the same fair ground, have introduced hundreds of Italian and Kurdish companies, businessmen, and investors, and have given birth to dozens of partnerships, joint ventures, and business contracts. They have attracted large amounts of foreign, direct investment to the Region, all of which have had a significant impact on the economy of the Region and are expected to have further impacts in the future.

The first exhibition was organized without the support of the Italian government, but later Axis managers persuaded the government to provide support to following exhibitions by encouraging Italian companies to participate and invest in Kurdistan. This had an impact on the growing participation of Italians in the following three exhibitions. The KRG has also supported the exhibitions, and encouraged its private sector to establish and improve business relations with Italian companies.

The 4th Italian Expo, unlike the three previous ones, was a specialized exhibition divided into two major sectors: food and agriculture, and construction, home appliances and equipment. According to Hajar Khoshnaw, public relations and international coordination manager of Axis Fairs & Services, another major difference between this and previous fairs is that the Italian companies now are looking into a different method of investment from their previous method of only marketing their products. The new idea is to localize their production and open their branch factories in Kurdistan.

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Start Your Business the Right Way Giuseppe Zunino is manager of strategic marketing and communications at the Powergres Company. They specialize in marble and tile production, exhibited their products at the exhibition, and seek to establish their factory and localize their products. Zunino was very impressed by the Region's booming economy and its warm and welcoming people. Zunino, whose company already has a presence here through an agent, told the "Globe" during an interview at his booth that this was his first time in Kurdistan and his expectations about the Region were correct. He sees the Region as being suitable for his company's intention in starting production in Kurdistan.

"The Region has a strategic location neighboring very important economies in the Region, such as Iran and Turkey as well as small distance to other large economies such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia," Zunino stated during the interview with the "Globe." "Kurdistan is an emerging market like most of the other markets we already have a presence in, including Algeria and China, and it has huge potential."

The main mission of the company, stated Zunino, is to provide premium fashion products with a very reasonable price to enable middle-income people to benefit from the quality with a below-average price. He believes Kurdistan is a good market for their products since the income of its population and the economy of the Region is growing fast, and people are ready to pay for their welfare.

"People go to nice restaurants and pay for a happy life. They are also willing to pay for quality. Everything is there, and the only missing thing is somebody to provide them with the quality and lifestyle these people are looking for. And we are trying to fill this gap."


Another characteristic of the exhibition was that the majority more than 80 percent of the exhibitors were new to the Region and participated for the first time in the Italian Expo, with only a few of the previous exhibitors participating again.

"The main reason is that most of the previous participants have already found their partners, and have started their business and opened offices and branches here through our first three exhibitions," Khoshnaw told the "Globe."

Khoshnaw was complaining about the participation rate, which he thought was not up to expectations. According to him, there were two main factors behind that. First, the international financial crisis; second, the negative media campaign about Iraq and failure to differentiate between Kurdistan Region and other parts of the country in terms of security, stability, economic development, and investment and business opportunities.

By Aiyob Mawloodi