ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Masrour Barzani on Monday opened a major power plant and cement factory in Erbil, lauding the private sector for creating jobs and voicing the significance of industrial growth in the Region.

The inauguration ceremony for the Dabin Cement Plant and Power Station took place at the facility's location at the foot of Mount Safin in Erbil province, with the industrial project boasting the capacity to produce 8,000 tons of cement per day.

“This project is a beginning for bigger steps in the future,” Prime Minister Barzani said. “This plant will meet a significant portion of Kurdistan’s domestic needs."

Barzani went on to describe the Kurdistan Region as a "fertile ground to develop the industrial sector."

The factory and the power station have together created 1,200 jobs.

“With the help of the private sector, we will create jobs for our youth,” he said.

Spanning 212 dunams of land, the plant is set to produce two million tons of cement in a year, with the project’s power station to add 52 megawatt-hours of electricity to the national grid.

There are a total of 12 large-scale cement factories in the Kurdistan Region.

The Kurdish premier said the KRG will continue its efforts to “diversify” sources of income in the Region, seeking to overcome dependency on the oil sector.

“The Kurdistan Regional Government’s decision to diversify revenue sources was the right policy,” the premier said.

A key focus of the Kurdistan Region’s ninth government cabinet under the leadership of Prime Minister Barzani has been to revitalize the economy, laying the groundwork for the establishment of a significant number of factories for the purpose boosting employment and pursuing economic independence.

From July 2019 to September 2024, a total of 977 factories, with a budget of 1.1 billion dollars, have been licensed across the Kurdistan Region. They have altogether helped create 15,245 jobs, a strategic achievement for the ninth KRG cabinet to reduce the unemployment burden.

The Kurdistan Region currently boasts a total of 4,547 high-standard licensed factories.

In addition to factories, the ninth cabinet has carried out 430 projects, including 185 in Erbil, 94 in Sulaimani, 84 in Duhok, five in Halabja, 24 in the Garmiyan administration, 15 in the Raparin administration, 15 in Zakho, and eight in Soran, across the sectors of trade, banks, health, industry, tourism, agriculture, and housing between 2019 and 2024, according to the KRG.