Erbil HITEX draws 300+ firms with AI, drones

Shafaq News- Erbil

More than 300 local and international companies and research centers are taking part in the seventh annual HITEX technology and innovation exhibition, which opened on Tuesday in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, exhibition supervisor Shiva Khalid told Shafaq News.

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani opened the event, which Khalid said will run for a “full week.” The KRG, she added, is participating through three main pavilions representing several ministries and showcasing technologies for humanitarian rescue, electronic administrative systems, and digital governance.

The Interior Ministry pavilion features technologies used by traffic police, fire services, and Civil Defense, including a drone capable of traveling 50 kilometers to assist in fighting fires in high-rise buildings, alongside communications and data-transfer systems. The technologies, Khalid said, keep pace with innovations used in countries including the United States and China.

The KRG Ministry of Trade and Industry is showcasing a company-registration system that allows any citizen to legally register a business and enter the formal sector in less than 30 minutes, she added.

HITEX also covers financial transaction systems and banking services, telecommunications, medicine, transportation, artificial intelligence, and smart-technology applications.

Read more: Erbil exhibition firms explore new investments in Iraq