Chinese battery parts manufacturer Huayou Cobalt will invest 520 billion forints (EUR 1.4bn) to build its first European plant in Ács, in north-western Hungary.
Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said on Wednesday that the investment creating 900 jobs will receive government support, the exact amount of which will be published after the European Commission has green-lighted it. Hoayou Cobalt is bringing cutting-edge technology and training for its employees to Hungary, he said. Hungary won the investment in a two-year negotiating process amid stiff international competition, he added. The investment is the second one announced this year in Hungary to top 1 billion dollars. Last year, only 159 investments of that volume were announced worldwide, he added. Hungary has drawn 51 investments connected to electric car manufacturing in the past seven years, worth some 4,000 billion forints in total, Minister Szijjártó said. “This would have been impossible without the policy of opening to the East,” he added. Trade between Hungary and China hit a record 13 billion euros in 2022, and last year’s record investments worth 6.5 billion euros are expected to double this year, he said.