The UAE ministry of foreign trade plans to double its current investment in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region to $6bn by 2013, Bloomberg has reported. Kurdistan is an important partner for the UAE, which is keen to "develop and upgrade" ties between them, Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Saleh, director general at the ministry told delegates at the Kurdish Regional Government's two-day trade and investment conference in London. Iraq ranks 11th among the UAE's trading partners, he noted.