Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani has inaugurated five major food industry projects worth $2bn (IQD2.6tn) in Karbala, operated by Etihad Food Industries, focusing on meat production, dairy, and fish farming, the Prime Minister's Office reported on August 10.

Etihad Food Industries is one of Iraq’s largest and most modern food processing companies, founded in 2012 in the Medhatya region of the Babylon province. It has become a key player in the Arab world’s food industry due to its scale, advanced technology, and extensive range of operations.

Al-Sudani praised Etihad as a key private sector partner supporting local market needs and highlighted the importance of a strong, financially and technically capable private sector for national development.

He described investment within Iraq as a qualitative and patriotic initiative and stressed the need for a supportive investment climate and local government facilitation.

The Prime Minister said Karbala is evolving into a global city attracting millions of visitors, requiring expanded industrial zones and projects that leverage local economic strengths.

He stressed the role of modern technology in driving success and the government's commitment to supporting local food production for greater safety and self-sufficiency.

The projects include a dairy factory with a daily capacity of 3,000 tonnes, among the largest globally, equipped with European production lines, and a meat production facility with five slaughterhouses capable of processing 1,500 cattle daily.

The initiative also features a dairy cattle farm housing 195,000 cows producing four million litres of milk daily, a beef cattle farm with an annual capacity of over 100,000 calves, and a fish farming project producing 300 tonnes of fresh fish daily.

Al-Sudani said the projects represent "investment within Iraq as a qualitative and patriotic initiative" and highlighted the government's commitment to supporting local food production.