Procter & Gamble is building a EGP 1 billion ($176 million) diaper factory in Egypt as it seeks to double its investments in the most populous Arab country in the next few years, it said on Tuesday.

It will complete the construction of the factory, its second in Egypt, in 2020, it said. Forty per cent of its production will be sold locally and the rest exported to Africa, Asia and Europe.

'The new plant marks the first step of an ambitious expansion plan seeking to double our investments in Egypt in the course of the coming few years,' Mohamed Sultan, general manager of Procter & Gamble's Egypt unit, said in a statement.

Analysts say consumer demand in Egypt has held up relatively well despite a global economic slowdown, with the economy growing by annual 5.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2010.-Reuters