Hungary’s foreign minister has revealed that government efforts to boost investments last year set records both in the number of projects and their value.
Péter Szijjártó, minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said that the 96 investments made in 2017 were worth 3.5 billion euros.
The minster added that last year was the second in a row in which 17,000 jobs were created thanks to the government’s program to boost investments.
Minister Szijjártó made the revelation during a press conference held to announce the 3.2 billion HUF (10.3m EUR) investment by Turkish-owned composites maker Metyx Hungary, which is expanding its base in Kaposvár, in southwestern Hungary.
The minister also revealed that the average monthly gross salary was more than 304,000 HUF (980 EUR) in newly created jobs last year, against 255,000 HUF in the previous year.
A large part of new investments were in areas most affected by digitalization and the new industrial revolution, with 36 projects in the car industry, seven in electronic and food processing, five in information technology and ten involving new service centres, he added.
The minister revealed that the largest number -- 29 projects -- originated from Germany, followed by 18 projects by Hungarian companies. Ten investment projects came from the US, four from India, three from China, South Korea and Japan, and two from Turkey, he added.
Metyx will add four production lines and expand its base by almost 6,000 square meters, creating 182 jobs, and the government is supporting the investment with a 903 million HUF grant, the minister added.