By Gabriela Mello
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Nestle SA <NESN.S> said on Wednesday it will invest 1 billion reais (about 206.2 million pounds) in Brazil's Sao Paulo state over the next three years to introduce new production lines and technologies in existing factories, as well as push forward a digital transformation.
The announcement comes as the Sao Paulo Governor João Dória, strives to draw investments to the state and boost industrial jobs in Brazil's historic manufacturing centre. On Aug. 9, he unveiled during a trip to China that Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL] would invest $800 million to build a second plant in Sao Paulo.
"Sao Paulo state is greatly important to our story, as it hosted our very first factory (in Brazil)," Chief Executive for Nestle Brasil Marcelo Melchior said in a statement.
Nestle, the world's largest food producer, employs 12,000 people directly and, the company said, more than 100,000 indirectly in Sao Paulo only. Over the last five years, its Brazilian subsidiary invested 2 billion reais in the state, according to the statement.
(Reporting by Gabriela Mello; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
