Official Emphasizes Deep Ties Between W.Azarbaijan, Erbil

Orumieh, Feb 17, IRNA – Governor General of the West Azerbaijan said that close ties and developing trade and economic relations between Erbil and West Azerbaijan indicate deep mutual friendship between the two provinces. Qorbanali Sa’adat, in a meeting with Governor General of Erbil province of Iraqi Kurdistan Autonomous Region Nowzad Hadi here on Sunday, said that officials of Iran and Iraq are interested to develop ties between the two countries. He said that currently economic and political relations between the two provinces are very extensive, which indicated interests and consideration of both countriesˈ officials. Sa’adat said that 70 percent of West Azerbaijan export goes to Iraq, 28 percent to Turkey and 2 percent to other countries. He also referred to development of infra-structures in Tamarchin Customs Office and Haj Omran border, adding that we are going to use our credits from next year to recover situation in Tamarchin Custom. Erbil governor general, for his part, said that we intend to develop our Haj Omran border to pave ground for developing mutual ties. Nowzad Hadi added that in this direction we allocated 60 million dollars to this border. He continued that distance between Erbil and Haj Omran is 175 kilometers, and with construction of five new tunnels, the distance will decrease to 120 kilometers./end