As Baghdad embarks on unprecedented energy development, foreign investors also are eyeing opportunities in industry and infrastructure. War-damaged Iraq is starving for housing and electricity investments.
Turkish construction firms are building houses in Erbil, Turkish goods flood the malls and many young Kurds spend holidays in Istanbul, where some learn to speak the language.
About 55 percent of the foreign firms in Iraqi Kurdistan - 640 of 1,170 - are from Turkey, which expects bilateral trade of about $6 billion last year to grow to $20 billion in four years.
Iran has invested in power plants, schools and factories in Iraq, and expects exports to rise to more than $8 billion in 2010 from $6 billion a year ago despite Western-backed economic sanctions aimed at curbing business with the Islamic Republic.
Iranian-made Saipa and Peugeot cars are common on the roads and some Iraqis favour an illegally imported Iranian liquor.
"It is best described as the latest manifestation of a latent and sometimes overt Iranian-Turkish rivalry that has existed in the region for decades and centuries," said Gala Riani, Middle East Analyst at IHS Global Insight.
"Iran and Turkey have each historically considered themselves as being the bigger political, economic and military power of the region. In Iraq, both sides are capitalizing on the vast economic opportunities that are present in both the south and the north."
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