Bogota, Nov 22: Coca Cola bottler Panamerican Beverages Inc (Panamco) will spend $200 million on boosting its market presence in Colombia and Venezuela next year, company sources said.

The head of Panamco's Andean region,Ruben Pietropaolo said it would invest $100 million in both Colombia and Venezuela on new infrastructure, production lines and other machinery.

The financing would come from existing company funds, he told reporters at a news conference in Bogota.

Panamco posted Coca Cola sales worth $137.9 million in the third quarter this year -- an 18.4 per cent rise compared with the same period of 1996.

The company supplies an estimated 100 million consumers in Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Brazil, Pietropaolo.

In May this year, Panamco merged with Venezuela's Coca ColaHit, which was joint owned by Coca Cola Co and the Cisneros group.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.