About 400 foreign companies have opened branches and representation offices in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region to expand their business in the fast-growing investment market here, Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Minister of Trade and Industry said.

The move by the foreign companies comes as more and more new companies are registering in the semi-autonomous region to enter the investment competition.

In 2011, about 430 foreign companies registered in the region to do business in Kurdistan – an increase of about 30% as compared to the previous year which was about 300 companies.

Sinan Chalabi, KRG Trade and Industry Ministry told AKnews that “The KRG provides all facilities for the foreign companies to encourage more and more of them to come to Kuridstan.”

“Currently, there are 1918 foreign companies working in Kurdistan in all sectors.” Chalabi said.

Of this number, more than 60% are Turkish, Iranian and Lebanese come second and third respectively.

“Due to the facilities provided by the Kurdistan Region’s Investment Law, more companies have already applied for registration or the opening branches and offices here. Their applications are being carefully examined”

Kurdistan Region is the hot spot for investment in Iraq since 2003 and is regarded as one of the Middle East's best growth prospects in 2012. According to statistics released by the Investment Board, the region has attracted some $16.2 billion (19 trillion IQD) in foreign investment over the past five years.

Kurdistan Region’s boom in foreign investment has been accredited to its accommodating Investment Law, passed in 2007. The law provides incentives for foreign investors including the possibility of owning land, up to 10 year tax holidays, easy repatriation of profits and removal of tariffs on exports and imports related to the project.