Coca-Cola Invests $1 Billion in Argentina: Big Beverage Company Looking for Other Opportunities in South America

The Coca-Cola Company has announced a $1 billion investment in Argentina over the next four years.

The investment will cover bottling and distribution operations in the South American country, the firm said on Thursday, Reuters reported. The move is projected to provide more business opportunities in Argentina.

Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent told Argentine President Mauricio Macri of the investment when the two leaders met at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the news outlet added. Macri has been wooing chief executives that Argentina is open for more business ventures.

Francisco Do Pico, a spokesman for Coca-Cola Argentina, said that the spending plan would include a new bottling plant located in the northern Corrientes province, as well as two new distribution centers, Reuters further reported. Construction of the bottling factory had already commenced, he noted.

"At this time we do not rule out acquiring a local company in the non-alcoholic drink sector," Do Pico added, as quoted in Reuters' report.

The beverages company currently employs more than 8,000 people in Argentina, teleSUR reported.

Aside from Coca-Cola, Macri also met with the CEOs of The Dow Chemical Company, Royal Dutch Shell, Total, Mitsubishi, Google, and Facebook on Thursday, the news outlet listed. He is also expected to have discussions with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"They were very productive meetings," Macri told Telam, as reported by teleSUR. "There is much acceptance and interest in this new era that has begun in our country."

Macri's attendance marks the first time that an Argentine president has graced the World Economic Forum, teleSUR noted. He has sworn to roll back progressive economic policies that were instituted by his predecessor, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, and remove Buenos Aires from Latin America's left.

This week, Macri announced his plans to improve the diplomatic relations between Argentina and the United Kingdom despite of the two countries' dispute over the Falkland Islands.

Macri said that he would continue to push Argentina's claim to the islands' sovereignty, but he is optimistic that the conversation would steer into "a new type of relationship," the Guardian reported.

The president remarked that he wants to give "better opportunities" to Argentines, adding that wants to "build better relationships" with all the nations of the region, the news outlet noted.

"We have to be a predictable and trustworthy country. We have to show investors that their rights will be respected, as well as we'll demand that they obey Argentina's laws," Macri said, as quoted by the Guardian. "Argentina wants to have a good relationship with the whole world."