American beverage giant Coca-Cola and National Beverage Company (NBC), which distributes the company's products in Palestine, has opened the fourth bottling plant in Gaza with an investment of $20 million.

NBC's Coca-Cola Gaza plant, which has started operating in four distribution centers in Palestine, will increase the total number of direct jobs its offers to West Bank and Gaza's people to 750 and indirect jobs to 7,500 over the next three years.

In addition to being the third largest Palestinian employer and the fifth largest Palestinian investor, NBC is also the largest food and beverage producer in the region with its product range of sparkling beverages, including Coca-Cola, Fanta, Sprite, Cappy fruit juice, Arwa and Jericho mineral water, which it has been producing since 1998. The company has three other bottling plants in Palestine, the last one of which started operating in April 2016.

NBC Founder and CEO Zahi Khouri said they have been working diligently to become a successful Palestinian company, create employment opportunities, support the national economy, offer exceptionally high quality products and demonstrate the company's key talent in the region from the outset. According to Khouri, the opening of the first facility in Palestine was an important milestone in their journey.

The Coca-Cola Foundation, NBC and the international development agency Mercy Corps have announced that a $1.3 million worth of new venture will be initiated in an attempt to address the problem of creating access to clean drinking water and providing employment for Palestinian youth. They said this deficiency is a barrier to the development of the region.

Founded by a 47-person team as the Coca-Cola Company's grant holder in the market in 1998, NBC is a local foundation employing more than 600 people in four factories in Ramallah, Tulkarm, Jericho and Gaza.