The foreign minister has revealed that pharmaceutical company Roche is expanding its service center in Budapest, creating 250 new jobs.
Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said the government is aiding the training of new employees with a HUF 104 million (EUR 290,000) grant. Hungary will also be one of the first countries to employ Roche’s new coronavirus drug that helps hospitalized patients avoid getting into a life-threatening condition.
Minister Szijjártó added that Roche was a partner of Hungarian healthcare “independently of the pandemic”, having issued 74 products in Hungary so far while reinvesting 75 percent of its turnover to support Hungary’s leading role in pharma research. The domestic production value of Hungary’s pharmaceutical industry grew by 7 percent last year, with exports expanding by 12 percent, he said.
The minister said Hungarian pharmaceutical products reach 136 countries, putting the country 19th on the list of the world’s pharma exporters. Martin Kikstein, the executive manager of Roche Szolgáltató, said the expansion reflected “an expression of appreciation of Hungarian expertise”. The service center was set up in 2006, and its 1,500 employees currently have responsibility for Roche’s activities in 60 states, he added.
Photo: Szijjártó Péter/Facebook