Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's second-largest carmaker, said Thursday it has opened a community center in Malawi, the company's second such project as part of its global social outreach program.

   The center opened in Salima near the shores of Lake Malawi on Wednesday, and is designed to improve the quality of life of the local people and lower infant mortality rates in the area, said Kia.

   It also said it has donated three buses to the center to help enhance the mobility of local people in an area where pregnant women are taken to a hospital by bicycle.

   Last year, Kia built a school in Nagashanqui, Tanzania, as it launched its global social outreach program.

   Kia said it had no immediate data on the sale of its vehicles in Malawi or Tanzania.

   Kia is a smaller sister company of Hyundai Motor, the two major flagship units of Hyundai Motor Group, the world's fifth-largest auto-making group. (Yonhap News)