Largest dairy factory in Kurdistan Region and Iraq opens in Duhok Province

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – As part of the strategic plans of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ninth Cabinet, the largest dairy factory will soon be opened in the Simele District of Duhok Province, according to a statement from the KRG.

Raqib Abu Bakr, director of the dairy factory, said that the project has cost $60 million and includes 2,000 to 3,000 dairy cattle, which can produce 120 tons of milk per day.

Abu Bakr also revealed that this will be the first dairy factory in history to produce such an amount of milk in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq. 

Furthermore, he added that 80% of the dairy factory has been completed so far, and the remaining full-capacity construction will be completed by the end of 2023.

Previously on May 30, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani inaugurated a dairy factory in Erbil Province’s Mergasor District in an effort to diversify the oil economy and protect domestic livestock resources.

The KRG Ninth Cabinet, since its inauguration in 2019, has made it its top priority to develop other sectors of the economy in order to safeguard its heavily hydrocarbon-based economy from oil price fluctuations.

Last year, the first batch of homegrown Kurdish pomegranates was exported to four Gulf and European markets. This marked the first international Kurdish produce export in history.

Other domestic agricultural products, including figs, honey, and apples, will also be shipped to regional markets in the near future.