Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani speaks during a ceremony in Baghdad marking the launch of construction for a new infant formula factory.
Iraq launches Baghdad factory to produce 9 million infant-formula packages a year
BAGHDAD — Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Saturday launched the executive phase of a private-sector factory in Baghdad that will produce 9 million units of infant formula annually, saying the project will help meet domestic demand and reduce reliance on imported supplies that drain foreign currency.
His office said the facility will manufacture formula “for all stages” as well as fortified nutrition products, describing the plant as a strategically important investment tied to food security.
Al-Sudani praised the project as an example of Iraqi industry’s growing capacity. He said business leaders and industrialists “proved their ability and competence to establish large projects,” and noted that the factory’s production can expand to cover the entire domestic market. He added that children under the age of two make up 5 to 6 percent of Iraq’s population, requiring “tens of millions of infant formula packages.”
According to the statement, the project aligns with the government’s wider effort to support national industry, strengthen the economy and reduce dependence on oil. Al-Sudani said the government has pursued partnership with the private sector and involved it in decision-making, calling it the most effective path for development. He said the industrial coordination council helped remove long-standing obstacles, and that for the first time the state now provides sovereign guarantees to private-sector projects under the three-year budget law.
He said pharmaceutical, food and construction industries have seen major new investments, supported by bank lending for small and medium enterprises. The number of such enterprises operating in Iraq, he said, rose from 2,000 in 2021 to 39,000, with 5,470 projects launched during the government’s three years and 53 exporting products abroad.
Al-Sudani said Iraq has reached self-sufficiency in several strategic commodities, including fertilizers, rebar and all types of cement. He added that national industry has not received adequate media coverage “despite achieving many accomplishments,” and said the government will continue easing procedures for projects that boost domestic production and meet market demand.