Erbil - Jordan's Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit officially opened on Monday his country's consulate in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous region of Iraq.

The opening of the consulate is expected to facilitate economic as well as diplomatic relations between Jordan and the Kurdish region.

Jordan's PM, al-Bakhit, told reporters that "I am here to consolidate our bilateral relations and friendship. We are planning to increase info exchange with the Region and therefore we will sign a number of memorandums of understanding to facilitate the transportation of people to and from Jordan"

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Barham Ahmed Salih told reporters during the opening ceremony that Jordan and Kurdistan Region will cooperate in the fields of economy, education, health, and trainings.

Dozens of local as well as Jordanian officials including at the ministerial level were present in the ceremony. Kurdish officials believe that the opening of the consulate will drive more investment traffic from Jordan to Kurdistan Region.

KRG Minister of trade Sinan Chalabi told AKnews that he expected more than 50 Jordanian companies to enter Kurdistan by the end of the year to increase the number of Jordanian companies from current 50 operating in the region to 100.

©Aknews