Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said on Monday that Japanese automotive industry supplier DENSO will spend 25 billion forints (EUR 67.9m) on capacity expansion at its base in Székesfehérvár, in central Hungary, creating 55 jobs.
The foreign minister said the investment, which will establish a new division specializing in the production of electric and hybrid vehicle parts, is supported by a 3.6 billion forint government grant. The government grant will also support the retraining of 135 people, Minister Szijjártó added. The investments currently being made in Hungary will make the country the European leader in the production of electric vehicle batteries, the minister said. This will make Hungary an essential player “in this strategically important industry”, guaranteeing its sustained growth, he added. The recent global economic challenges have failed to slow the “irreversible and long-term revolutionary transformation” of the auto industry, the minister said. The emergence of the electric vehicle industry has created intense competition, he said, adding that countries capable of attracting EV investments would be the ones to achieve sustainable growth. Hungary’s government has been successful in this endeavour so far, Minister Szijjártó said, highlighting the role of the strategy of opening up to the East, noting that a significant share of the industry’s investments came from Asia.