Turkey’s textile holding company Menderes Tekstil plans to invest USD 2 M in the construction of a textile factory in the town of Svilengrad in Southern Bulgaria. The Instanbul-listed company turnout in 2002 is expected to reach USD 19 M, with USD 15 M of it hopefully coming from the new plant in Bulgaria. Menderes Tekstil, which has branches in Greece, Israel and Ireland, chose to launch production in Bulgaria because of the cheap labour force, energy and components in the country. About 100 new jobs are to be created at the opening of the plant and 150 more are expected to be added later.