“Iraqi Kurdistan Needs 500,000 New Houses” says Ahmed Rikany, Chairman of Rekan Group
However, we see that there is a need for 350,000-500,000 houses while there are currently only 120,000. Moreover, the number of residents is increasing so the demand for houses is there.
In terms of investment, most of the investment in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq is focused on oil & gas and housing sectors and this is not good for a sustainable economy in general. What is the outlook for investments in the Kurdistan Region?
However, we see that there is a need for 350,000-500,000 houses while there are currently only 120,000. Moreover, the number of residents is increasing so the demand for houses is there.
The law of investment issued in 2006 was approved by the Parliament and the Cabinet and it is considered to be a very positive step for the Region, especially when we see that the privileges given by this law to foreign companies are equal to the privileges given to the local ones; for this reason we have noticed that many companies and investors have come to Kurdistan and they have invested in housing and construction because those sectors were in a great need of investment at that time.
When it comes to the investment in oil and gas, we see that only foreign companies work in this sector. We have asked investors to focus on other sectors such as agriculture, industry and tourism because they are beneficial for the future of Kurdistan, too.
When it comes to housing, many people warn of the housing bubble in Kurdistan. What is the actual situation on the ground regarding housing?
We as investors believe that the number of houses and residential units in the Kurdistan Region is not sufficient. There is still a need but at this time there are some allegations and rumours related to the real estate market and all of them have been created for political reasons to make people hesitate when thinking of buying houses because there are some rumours spreading out and the central government is behind it, talking about the instability in the region and we believe that the central government in Baghdad has created this crisis in order to negatively influence the development of the market.
However, we see that there is a need for 350,000-500,000 houses while there are currently only 120,000. Moreover, the number of residents is increasing so the demand for houses is there.
Can you talk about the Rekan Group and give us an overview of your strategy?
Rekan Group was established in 1997 and it works in construction and reconstruction. We were one of the first investors in Kurdistan and we implemented the New City Centre project. This project was supported by the government who had allocated us a plot of land and the project cost back then around $20 million but the investors were afraid to invest in Kurdistan because Saddam Hussein had been in power at that time and thus we were the first group to invest in Erbil. After the government of Kurdistan issued the investment law in 2006 we could expand the range of our projects. We implemented many projects, e.g. the construction of 1,000 residential units with the engineering group megamore and Greenland. All of the projects are of high quality and they are regarded as unique in Kurdistan. 
We are now constructing a hospital in the Kurdistan Region and we are also working on a tourism project with Hewa group – project of Chiay Safeen of modern design. It costs $1 billion. In 2003-2004 we also implemented a project in Kirkuk which is a five star hotel and a mall. We have also projects in Ramadi and Nasriya. We receive our directions, encouragement and support from Mr. Nechiravan Barzani who has been urging us to work on industry, agriculture and tourism projects.
Can you describe us one of your current projects?
Greenland project is very big and the area of the land (on which the project is built) is 500 acres and 250,000 meters squared. The project is divided into four parts: very modern high quality villas spread on a 100,000 meters. The other part consists of 120 villas and the first phase of these villas is to be completed this month (January 2013) while the second phase will be completed next month (February 2013). On the other hand the third part is palaces (big villas?) and the area of these palaces ranges from 2,000 to 3,000 meters squared. Each palace consists of three floors, they are equipped with central air-conditioning, parking space, modern kitchens, sauna, security system and the most modern design and elements.
We at Rekan hope that we can help people through our projects. We also have another construction project related to small apartments (flats) and we really hope it will turn out as successful.