Leading food and beverage company PepsiCo plans to invest $500 million in Egypt this year to expand production, said its business unit manager for North East Africa.

Ahmed El Sheikh told Reuters at an investment conference in Sharm El-Sheikh that the investment comes after the global food and beverage company achieved sales of $1.2 billion in Egypt during 2014.

Much of the investments will be injected for expanding the PepsiCo’s portfolio and in the company’s total supply chain network as well as infrastructure and capacity, stated Sheikh.

Egypt hopes the weekend conference will project an image of stability and improve investor confidence hit by the political upheaval after the fall of veteran ruler Hosni Mubarak.

Cairo wants to double foreign investment in this fiscal year to $8 billion, despite an Islamist insurgency in northern Sinai and frequent militant attacks across the country.

PepsiCo's announcement comes a day after Gulf allies pledged a further $12 billion of investments and deposits at Egypt's central bank in a big boost to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as he tries to reform the economy after years of political upheaval.

General Electric said on Friday it would invest $200 million in Egypt.-Reuters