There is no room complacency domestically, either. The KRG spends a high proportion of its income on government salaries. It is easy to add people to the government’s payroll; harder to reduce that burden to ensure long term sustainability and an effective balance between the state and private sector. The hydrocarbon sector has seen significant growth and progress; dramatic, even. But over the coming years, the region will see a step change in the amount of infrastructure needed to produce and export much more oil and gas than before: a huge task for any government.
Financial services are in their infancy here. The government will inevitably face the challenge of having to effect a rapid change from a cash economy that isolates Kurdistan from the world to a financial sector that ties the region into the way the rest of the world does financial business.
Kurdish society will be watching to see that governmental services are delivered in line with their growing expectations. Previous cabinets have worked to improve the position of women, to reduce the role of political parties, to develop a functioning and fair judicial system and to deepen respect for human rights. That is vital work that requires focused attention for decades.
Of course, it is not just down to the new cabinet. Parliament, the opposition and the media need to continue their central function of holding the government to account.
We should be in for another fascinating year in the growth of Kurdistan Region!
(Source: Rudaw)
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