By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff reporter
British American Tobacco (BAT) Korea said Monday that it will invest 100 billion won ($83.2 million) into its factory situated in the southern city of Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, South Gyeongsang Province. BAT Korea will upgrade the factory with the latest high-tech machinery from 2010 to 2011.
In addition, the outfit famous for such brands as Dunhill and Kent will also invest in training its 300 employees in the factory so that they can operate the advanced technology.
BAT Korea President Stephan Liechti said the large-sized investment is geared toward ensuring quality to Korean customers on the back of the international giant's technological edge.
``Korea is a very important market in the BAT Group, and we are committed to ensuring that our factory continues to produce only the highest quality cigarettes for our Korean consumers,'' Liechti said.
``We are leveraging BAT's global expertise to bring cutting-edge technology to our Korean business so we can continue to deliver high quality and innovative products to our customers.''
BAT Korea, which carves out about 18 percent of the market as of this April, funneled 130 billion won to build the Sacheon factory in 2002 and invested further to expand its capacity and facilitate a large warehouse complex.