Procter & Gamble has announced it will invest $50 million in the town of Urlati creating a shampoo factory and an estimated 150 jobs.

Procter & Gamble will invest the $50 million by the spring of 2010 in the first stage of the construction of a factory to make shampoo and other hair care products in the town in Prahova County, the Slovak Spectator reports.

Construction of the factory began this week. 150 jobs will be created initially.

"We intend to recruit extensively from the Urlati area, but we will also take engineers from Ploiesti and Bucharest. We already have ongoing programmes involving students from the technical faculties in these cities," Daniel Myers, vice-president of Product Supply Global Hair Care of P&G told the Spectator.

In Urlati, a town with a population of just 12,000, unemployment is currently around 12%, say local authorities. They estimate the Procter & Gamble investment will reduce the jobless rate by 1-2%.

Robin Bowman