Iranian province proposes cross-border tech and investment plan with Iraq

DUHOK, Iraq — The head of Iran's Kermanshah province communications authority called for the roughly 1,600-kilometer shared border with Iraq to be converted into a corridor for technology, trained personnel and investment. Speaking at a digital economy and technology specialization forum, Communications and Information Technology Director-General Amir Ali Nurniya said economic and trade relations between the two countries should move beyond traditional goods exchange. According to Iran's official IRNA news agency, Nurniya said Kermanshah and the neighboring Iranian provinces of Ilam, Kurdistan, West Azerbaijan and Khuzestan offer significant opportunities for cooperation with Iraq's Duhok, Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Diyala, Wasit, Maysan and Basra. He outlined four proposed axes of cooperation: establishing a joint general secretariat with the participation of ministries, the private sector and academia in the digital economy; organizing trade and technology fairs in Iraq; providing regulatory guarantees under local government oversight to reduce investment risks; and running joint training programs between universities. Nurniya added that Kermanshah, with a population of more than two million, shares 371 kilometers of border with Iraq and serves as a key transit point between the two countries through its active trade crossings.