Japanese electronic car-parts manufacturer TDK is investing 26 billion forints (EUR 70.0m) into setting up a plant manufacturing sensors to electric cars in Szombathely, in western Hungary, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said on Monday.
The investment, which is supported with a 6.6 billion forint government grant, will create 250 jobs, Péter Szijjártó said.
Szijjártó said eastern countries had carried out 70 percent of investments globally in 2021, up from 20 percent in 2010. Countries in the Far East are technologically prepared and financially stable, he said.
Hungary’s work to strengthen ties with Eastern countries has borne fruit, he said. Eastern investors have outweighed their Western peers in Hungary every year since 2019, and implemented 60 percent of investments in the country in 2021, he said.
Relations with Japan also thrived in 2021, with Hungarian exports to the country growing by 18 percent to 830 million dollars, he said. Japan is the seventh most important investor in Hungary, he added.
The production value of Hungary’s automotive sector had grown to 9,400 billion forints last year, two-and-a-half times its value in 2010, he said.
European countries are competing in luring electronic car manufacturers, because those investments are “the guarantee for long-term growth,” he said.
featured image via Zoltán Balogh/MTI
