PepsiCo will invest USD 500 million in Egypt this year to expand production, according to its business unit manager for North East Africa.

Ahmed El Sheikh said the investment comes after the global food and beverage company achieved sales of USD 1.2 billion in Egypt during 2014.

PepsiCo, which has been operating in the country for more than 50 years, reiterated the importance of its Egyptian operations during the conference, hosted by His Excellency President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.

“Egypt is the anchor of our North African operations and one of our most important and promising markets,” said Omar Farid, PepsiCo ‘s President for the Middle East and Africa, according to zawya.com, who cites reuters.com.

“We have only scratched the surface of the long-term growth opportunities that exist for PepsiCo and our partners in Egypt, and we are confident that this investment will help us continue our momentum in the country.”

Farid said the investment will be directed towards strengthening and expanding PepsiCo ‘s operations. The company operates 11 manufacturing facilities throughout Egypt, has approximately 47 distribution centers/warehouses/offices, and provides full-time employment to more than 10,500 Egyptians.