"Both areas have been afflicted by trauma and troubles and I feel that we have a lot to learn from Northern Ireland, which is now emerging from a troubled period," she said.
"While we are very different in terms of climate, location and religion, we have a lot in common.
"We feel in Kurdistan, because of our difficulties, we are behind other regions and we can work with Northern Ireland to see how we can catch up in terms of technology and higher education. We are interested in our visit to the Titanic building, to see how one super-museum can help attract over 700,000 people to one small region."
Minister Foster agreed that there plenty of similarities between the two areas.
"We are both regions emerging from a conflict and there is a lot of experience and expertise that we can share," she said.
"Already companies from Northern Ireland are seeing the benefits of expanding to the Middle East and Kurdistan is especially interested in our IT companies. Kurdistan is an oil-rich area and we have told there are plans for 2000 schools and 150 hospitals in the next 15 tears, which will present amazing opportunities for Northern Ireland companies in many sectors.
"There is a perception that going to Iraq is dangerous in the same way that people used to be put off from going to Northern Ireland – we hope that we can help break down some of those barriers and misconceptions – we are trying to prove that Northern Ireland is a good place to do business and that we have gotten over the problems of the past and we hope to help Kurdistan do the same."
(Source: KRG)
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