RIGA - Britain's International Greetings plans to develop a production plant in Liepaja and has sealed an agreement on the project with the Latvian Investment and Development Agency and the Liepaja City Council's development board, the Dienas Bizness daily reported last week.
The exact size of the investment is not yet clear but could reach 20 million lats (28.8 million euros), the plant's managing director Garry Larner said.
International Greetings is the world's third-largest producer of private label greeting cards, wrapping paper, ribbons and other gift material.
During the project's first stage, production, which is scheduled to begin in February, will be launched on sites rented from Lauma, the renowned textile producer. In addition, new printing equipment worth some 5 million pounds Sterling will be installed in January, said project manager Uldis Hmielevskis.
He added that approximately 200 people would be working in the plant by the end of next year.
In 2006 the construction of a second plant in Liepaja will begin, with completion planned for 2010. Investments in the project are expected to reach some 20 million lats, and as many as 350 workers will eventually be employed.
Nearly all of International Greetings' Latvian output will be exported to the parent company's markets - the U.K., Germany and America. There are also plans to build a distribution network in the Baltic states and enter the Russian market along with other CIS countries.
The British concern has set up two companies for operations in Latvia - IG Latvia, which will produce greeting cards, and Balt IG, which will make ribbons and bows.
