Hungary's foreign minister has said the country's successes must be maintained after Sunday's election.
“The successes achieved during the traditional industrial era must also be maintained following the digital revolution, in the interests of which large corporations that create highly developed technologies must be encouraged to invest in Hungary through tax benefits and funding," Péter Szijjártó, minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said.
The minister stressed that Hungary has an open economy, and accordingly its performance is affected by the investments of foreign companies.
He revealed that Japanese corporation Zoltek is creating 357 new jobs at its plant in Nyergesújfalu with an investment of 30.8 billion HUF (99 million EUR), during the course of which eight new production lines will be established and the company’s annual carbon fibre production capacity will increase from 10,000 to 15,000 tons.
Minister Szijjártó revealed that the government is providing 8.1 billion HUF (26 million EUR) in funding towards the project, which will create Europe’s largest carbon fibre manufacturing plant, meaning the majority of products used in Europe’s wind turbines will be manufactured in Hungary.
The company currently employs 1,260 people in Hungary and will also be teaching carbon fibre technology in higher education thanks to an agreement with the Budapest University of Technology.
The 170 Japanese companies currently operating in Hungary employ a total of 26,000 people, trade flow between the two countries exceeded 2 billion euros last year, and the technological level of enterprises from East Asia is bringing renewal to the European economy, the minister added.