Kurdistan parliamentarians are hungry for their government to work better in both policy and financial terms. They want an independent audit body which has enough staff to scrutinise government spending. But they also want a grown-up relationship with Baghdad. When a region has gone through war and has Syria and Iran as neighbours, a federal system that delivers a fair financial deal while allowing both policy independence and a clear hand to negotiations on mineral assets is the objective.

So in a federal or quasi-federal system it is perfectly possible to have a grown-up relationship, work through policy differences and create jobs through foreign investment without the need for referendums or endless synthetic rows. Scotland’s experiences of government and public policy and the ever-evolving relationship with London provide pointers for relationships elsewhere.

As well as the potential to export oil service expertise from Aberdeen and the merits of Audit Scotland’s professionalism, Scottish universities need to recognise the opportunity. The UK’s stock is very high in Kurdistan. Former prime minister John Major, who visited in May, is recognised for the role he played in supplying food to the Kurds at the end of the first Gulf War.

Kurdistan exports students to study abroad on an increasingly significant scale – 85 per cent come to Britain but all go to English universities. Seven universities were across this week pitching their wares to the Kurdish student body. Heriot-Watt and both Aberdeen and Robert Gordon Universities have strong graduate disciplines linked to oil and gas. They would be well advised to explore this new potential in a very exciting part of the world.