Following talks with Japanese Minister of Agriculture Kotaro Nogami in Tokyo, the foreign minister said Japanese companies have an important role in Hungary’s economic growth and see Hungary as a primary target when eyeing European expansion.
Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, told MTI that Japanese companies are the eighth largest investor community in Hungary, with over 180 Japanese companies employing some 34,000 Hungarians.
The minister said a prominent Japanese pharmaceutical company is slated to conclude an investment in Nyergesújfalu, in northern Hungary, this year. The HUF 140 billion (EUR 380.6m) investment will create some 200 jobs in a plant manufacturing parts for electric batteries.
During the visit, Minister Szijjártó also met Japanese company executives, and signed an agreement between a Japanese bank and Hungary’s Eximbank on the joint financing of Japanese investments in Hungary. The aim is to further increase the presence of Japanese companies in Hungary because “they always bring high-level technology and high-prestige workplaces for Hungarians,” Minister Szijjártó said.
The minister also noted that Japan had been the first country to lift the ban on Hungarian pork exports after the African Swine Flu hit the country last year. Japan is now accepting exports from five Hungarian counties not affected by the epidemic, Minister Szijjártó said.
Photo credit: Facebook/Szijjártó Péter