Erbil Stock Exchange

According to Abdul-Rahman, “There are many reasons for the establishment of the market in Erbil. One of these reasons is that people save big amounts of their money at home because of what happened during the past regime time when banks’ managements were withdrawn from Iraqi Kurdistan taking people money with them, so a lot of people today don’t trust banks enough to deposit their money at.”

There are more than 18,000 companies operating in Iraqi Kurdistan, 16,000 of which are foreign. Changing into a Joint Stock Company gives people the opportunity to be a party of these companies. “Another thing is that we are trying to open the door to foreign investments through this market.” Although Iraqi Kurdistan is safe and offers stable security, foreigners avoid making investments because they relate Iraqi Kurdistan to the situation going on in Iraq. The existence of the market creates an entry point for foreign investors to be partners, and likewise, “if they ever felt like security is deteriorating, it will be an exit point as well.”