A delegation from the Kurdistan Regional Government visited Northern Ireland this week to take forward an agreement that forges cooperation in several sectors between Kurdistan and Northern Ireland.

The delegation, led by Minister Falah Mustafa, Head of the Department of Foreign Relations, was hosted in Enniskillen by Arlene Foster, the Northern Ireland Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, and Invest Northern Ireland, the region's business development agency. The delegation consists of directors from various KRG ministries, the KRG UK Representation and the Kurdistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

On Tuesday, the ministers led a steering committee that discussed the implementation of the memorandum of understanding between the two regions signed last year. The MoU promotes cooperation in the fields of agriculture, tourism, higher education, commerce, investment and police training. At the meeting, it was agreed that housing would be considered for inclusion in the agreement and that a follow-up meeting would take place in Erbil to assess the progress of the agreement.

The mission to Northern Ireland followed a productive visit there in February by President Masoud Barzani who in turn invited the First and Deputy first Ministers of the region to visit Kurdistan.

Minister Foster, welcoming the delegation to Enniskillen, said, 'I see these meetings as a display of faith in the future of Kurdistan. I believe that the experience and skills we have in Northern Ireland are relevant to the needs of the Kurdistan Regional Government. I also believe that working together we will achieve a common goal of developing our economies. We have made a great start and I am keen to grow our partnerships.'

Minister Mustafa said, 'We are pleased to have found a real partner in Northern Ireland. We believe in the friendship we have built so far and there is a lot that we can learn from Northern Ireland. We are committed to success and to providing a better future for our people. In doing so we need partnerships in the international community and there can be no better partner than Northern Ireland. We have outlined six areas in the MoU and we can add more to it, but we now need to implement it whether it's through partnerships, contracts or joint projects.'

The KRG delegation saw presentations made by representatives of Invest Northern Ireland, the region's Department of Employment and Learning, the Agri-Food and Biosceiences Institutue, the Northern Ireland Tourism Board, the Northern Ireland Corporation Overseas and the Strategic Investment Board.

On Wednesday, the delegates were taken on site visits while Minister Falah Mustafa, Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, the KRG High Representative to the UK, and Dara Khailani, Director in the Department of Coordination and Follow-up, met Ministers Jonathan Bell and Jennifer McCann at Stormont Castle in Belfast. The meeting focused on the spirit of cooperation and a shared understanding between the two regions of their troubled past with prospects for a brighter future.

While in Belfast, Minister Mustafa, Ms Abdul Rahman and Mr Khailani also met representatives of Northern Ireland's housing, planning and land registry authorities to hear about the expertise that Northern Ireland can offer in the field of affordable housing.

There have been several visits between Kurdish and Northern Ireland trade missions over the past few years as well as government exchanges and a visit in February by President Barzani. Several companies from Northern Ireland are doing business in Kurdistan while others have signed MoUs.

The delegation included Dara Khayat, President of the Kurdistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Beriwan Khailani from the Ministry of Higher Education, Ghazi Faiq Haji from the Ministry of Agriculture, Brigadier Ismail Yaba Khaland from the Ministry of Interior, Saman Arab Sadik from the Board of Investment, Hoshang Mohammed from the Department of Foreign Relations, Hagob Serob Yacob from the Board of Tourism, and Nawal Karim from the KRG UK Representation.