A UNITED States-based company which produces equipment for reducing harmful vehicle omissions like carbon monoxide is to increase its investment in the Eastern Cape by more than R700m, premier Makhenkesi Stofile has announced. The announcement was made jointly with Engelhard Corporation vice president Edmund Stanczak, who is also general manager of the Environmental Technologies Group. Engelhard in 1995 established a plant in Port Elizabeth, which has become one of the largest manufacturers of automotive catalysts in the world. The plant produces auto-emission catalysts for export to several developed countries where legislation compels the use of technology to limit emissions of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides.