The three-billion kronor agreement with the Iraqi ministry of industry will see the trucks themselves assembled in Iskandariyah, 50 kilometres south of Baghdad.

“This agreement is an important step in our continued cooperation with the Ministry of Industry and Mining,” said Klas Dahlberg, a senior Scania Middle East sales executive, in a company statement.

The latest deal follows a 2009 agreement to deliver 500 Scania trucks, with the Swedish firm noting that Iraq had been one of its largest markets in the early 1980s, with 3,900 trucks sold in 1981 alone.

Scania in November 2008 reached an agreement in principle with the government of Iraq on the assembly of trucks and buses in the country.

Production commenced during the third quarter of 2009 and are conducted under the auspices of Iraq’s State Company for Automotive Industry.

Scania’s move into the country was seen as part of the push for infrastructure investments and job creation seen as important elements of the rehabilitation of the war-torn country.

The Swedish firm’s base is in the same facility that it previously used for assembling trucks – in Iskandariyah outside Baghdad.