Above: the groundbreaking in Humacao (Photo: OG Puerto Rico)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb has begun a $200 million expansion at its plant in Puerto Rico’s Humacao.

The project, which will expand the company’s existing facilities, is expected to create around 100 new jobs.

“We have to regain the credibility that underpins our economy,” Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla said at the construction launch. “Puerto Rico can not abandon its relationship with the industries related to life and health, such as pharmaceutical and medical equipment. These industries are bound to grow in the coming decades.”

Bristol-Myers’ expanded staff will include engineers, traders, scientists, technicians and other high-level jobs as part of a bid to increase manufacturing capacity.

“Manufacturing is part of our economic backbone,” Padilla said. “We will strengthen it, focusing on those areas where we have competitive advantages. We will combine it with other activities, and we will diversify to promoting other industrial sectors.”

Bristol-Myers has two factories in Puerto Rico, with the other located in Manati.