Erbil, KRI (May 31, 2021) – A panel discussion about ‘Overcoming the Obstacles Tech Businesses Face in KRI’ was co-hosted by Rwanga Foundation and Five One Labs, with the support of The Netherlands' Consulate General in Erbil as part of the ‘Business Registration and Regulation in KRI’ project.

The goals for this panel were to discuss the challenges and obstacles that mainly tech-entrepreneurs and startup owners are facing in terms of registration and regulations. Establishing systematic and standard methods and procedures for E-commerce businesses that match with the local context through policies and regulations was the aim of the panel discussion.

“I’m so happy to see this initiative today taken by the public sector, private sector, and the civil society, as well as the collaboration between the international and local communities in order to develop the businesses in KRI. We are thankful for the support of Netherlands and the partnership of 51 Labs for making this possible” said Abdulsalam Medeni – Chief Executive Director of Rwanga Foundation during the opening speech.

The panel discussion was held under the title of “Overcoming the obstacles Tech businesses face in KRI”, and with the participation of (Hiwa Afandi - Department of Information Technology – KRG, .Nazmi Musa Othman - Directorate of Labour, Social Insurance & Vocational Training – KRG, Ahmed Surchi - Hawre Surchi Law Firm, Rene van Eijk - Ministry of Economic Affairs – the Netherlands, Zana Mahmood Ahmed – Entrepreneur).

The Business registration and regulation in KRI is a project designed to make improvement in the Business and Startup sector in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. This project was a follow up of a request by the Council of Ministers of the Kurdistan Regional Government to advice and design a concrete roadmap towards improved methods and policies that fit the modern world of doing businesses. The project is funded by the government of Kingdom of the Netherlands and implemented by Five One Labs in collaboration with Rwanga Foundation.

The project is divided into three phases. First, three Focus Groups have been established. Separate sessions have been conducted with entrepreneurs to discuss the topics of (Business Registration, E-Commerce Businesses, and Female Entrepreneurship). Secondly, this Panel Discussion have been conducted to highlight the E-commerce issues and current methods from all aspects with the aim of including all relative departments and individuals’ insights. Finally, this panel discussion will be followed by the execution of writing a draft policy paper with alternatives to the current laws and regulations in place for the E -commerce businesses, but also to include new policy suggestions that would benefit the entire E-commerce sector.