Davos, Switzerland - The Coca-Cola Company plans to invest $1 billion in its operations in Mexico this year as part of a $5 billion long-term investment plan, CEO Muhtar Kent said.

Kent made the announcement Saturday in a joint appearance with Mexican President Felipe Calderon during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Calderon had been meeting with potential investors at the gathering of the world’s most powerful business leaders.

"Coca-Cola expects to create 10,000 new jobs in Mexico over the next five years," Kent said. The Atlanta-based company currently employs 93,000 people directly and another 800,000 indirectly in Mexico, making it one of the largest employers in the country.

Coca-Cola has doubled the size of its product portfolio in Mexico during the past six years and now offers 60 brands and 400 products. The US beverage giant’s decision to expand its investments in Mexico "will give a strong boost to the economy and will provide more and higher quality jobs for Mexicans," Calderon said.

Mexico has a young population and rising incomes, offering "positive growth despite the circumstances in other parts of the world today," stated Calderon, referring to the economic problems in Europe and the United States. Nearly 600,000 new jobs were created in the formal sector of Mexico’s economy last year, while 800,000 jobs were created in 2010. "So, it amounted to nearly 1.5 million jobs after the worst period in the crisis we experienced," he added.

"Job growth boosts the number of consumers in the country for companies like Coca-Cola," said the president. "In fact, in an atmosphere of global crisis, we have received direct foreign investments of $106 billion in the last five years. Companies that operate soundly and create jobs will always have an ally in us moving forward."