LUGANO, Switzerland – (July, 16 2009) – New Holland Agriculture is supplying an additional 1,250 of its reliable and productive tractors to the Iraq government to foster economic growth in the country. The contract signed on January 27, 2009 between New Holland Agriculture and the State Company for Mechanical Industries (SCMI), within Iraq's Ministry of Industry, foresees the supply of complete built-up and semi knock down units to support the agricultural operations of SCMI's manufacturing plant in Iskandiriyah, Iraq.
The first 400 of the 1,250 New Holland tractor components have already been supplied to the plant, and over 300 units have been delivered to farmers and are now working in country's fields. 200 additional tractor kits are on the way to the Iskandiriyah assembly plant.
The supply will contribute to revitalizing Iraq's agribusiness sector. New Holland Agriculture's specialists are providing the technical assistance to support manufacturing operations in Iskandiriyah, including the supply of tools to optimize production standards, and after sales assistance to guarantee efficient operations in the field for the farming community. Sufficient parts stocks ensure minimum machine ‘down’ time.
"New Holland is committed to promoting sustainable development in Iraq through a two-stage approach: providing spare parts and service teams to rehabilitate the existing fleet of machines in Iraq and by renewing its long-term commitment to the country through the provision of new state-of-the-art agricultural equipment, training and service." stated Joseph Samora, Senior Vice President CNH, who has been appointed for the US – Iraq business dialogue by the US Department of Commerce.
New Holland’s approach has always included a best-in-class commitment to service in order to maximize the value of the equipment that is currently operating in the region. MICTA, part of Al Bunnia Group, is New Holland Agriculture's Distributor in Iraq and employs approximately 300 people in the country, providing equipment and service to more than 3,100 farmers through five regional service centers for equipment maintenance and customer support.
For over 30 years, New Holland has been the market leader in Iraq. "Currently, there are more New Holland Agriculture machines in Iraq than any other western manufacturer; we consider Iraq as our home country where we operate to satisfy the local needs", said Franco Fusignani, Head of CNH International markets