Coca-Cola İçecek widens operations in Pakistan

Coca-Cola İçecek (CCI), one of the largest Turkish investors operating in the Pakistani food industry, decided to expand its operations in the country. The company entered the Pakistani market by purchasing Coca-Cola Beverages Pakistan for $77 million in 2008, and increased the number of its factories to six with an investment of $500 million in the country.

Last week, Coca-Cola İçecek opened an additional facility, with its first factory in the Punjab province of Multan. With this investment, the company increased its production capacity to 300 million liters of beverages, and offered an additional 2,500 jobs in the factory. Anadolu Group and Coca-Cola İçecek's CEO Tuncay Özilhan said the company provides jobs for 4,000 individuals directly and 70,000 individuals indirectly in Pakistan, adding that they had increased market share in Pakistan by 38 percent since 2008. Özilhan stated, "We believe in Pakistan's potential and we receive new investment offers from the administration of the Punjab province in which intense investments are being made." He added that the company will welcome opportunities in certain areas, in accordance with its objective to invest an additional $200 million in Pakistan over the next three years.

Coca-Cola İçecek bought a parcel of land in the capital of Islamabad to establish a new factory, and aims to enlarge its existing factory in Karachi. The company is also determined to open a facility in Faisalabad over the next five years. Özilhan stressed that the company has not received any incentives for its investments in Pakistan. He said company representatives recently held a meeting with Shehbaz Sharif, the Chief Minister of Punjab, who invited them to make more investments in Pakistan, adding: "They expect more investments from us. However, the country is facing great troubles with energy - which forces us to make half of our production using electric generators in our factories."