The second largest produce market in Iraq was inaugurated by the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region in Akre on Tuesday with a goal of marketing produce from the Region within Iraq and the international market.

Prime Minister Masrour Barzani arrived in Akre on Tuesday morning, first speaking to farmers in the region ahead of attending the inauguration ceremony of the produce market.

Addressing the concern of farmers who claimed that due to smuggling of foreign produce, the Region’s local produce faces difficulties being marketed, PM Barzani said that serious steps will be taken to resolve such issues.

“We will not allow the import of produce that is already being produced in the Kurdistan Region,” PM Barzani said during the ceremony.

“Progress continues in the Kurdistan Region and we want to diversify its economy,” PM Barzani added. “The Akre modern produce market is an important project through which we want to produce more jobs.”

The Akre produce market will become the second largest produce market across Iraq, coming only after Erbil’s produce market.

The project’s budget is $22 million and the area allocated for the project is 245,000 square meters.

“Due to its diversity in agricultural produce, Akre plays a large role in providing the Kurdistan Region’s produce and is seen as an important source towards ensuring food security,” Engineer at the Akre agriculture directorate Karwan Jamal told The New Region on Tuesday.

Akre is famous for several types of produce, among them rice, cucumber, wheat, sumac, and figs.

The town produced 11,000 tons of rice last year, while expecting an additional thousand ton this year in rice production.

Since the start of 2024, around 100 tons of Acre’s produce has been exported abroad, as part of the government’s plan to diversify the sources of income as well as providing aid to local farmers.