South Korean company W-Scope opens its first European plant in Hungary.Continue reading
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó met his South Korean counterpart on Monday, where he said that thanks to the balanced economic policies of recent years, Europe’s lowest taxes and political stability, large Eastern companies see Hungary as an attractive investment destination.
The meeting with South Korean Economy Minister Ahn Duk-geun was announced in a Facebook post by the Hungarian minister. Szijjártó wrote that the failed sanctions in Brussels are pushing Europe rapidly towards recession. In this situation, the importance of investments by large Eastern companies with reliable capital will increase significantly.
Péter Szijjártó recalled that every year since 2019, the largest number of investments has come from an Eastern country: while in 2019 and 2021, South Korea was the top investor, in 2020, and this year China was the top investor.
These Eastern investments create the opportunity for Hungarians to stay out of the European recession,
he said.
He stressed that as South Korean companies are among the world leaders in the electric car industry, their investments in Hungary are crucial. That is why they agreed to conclude the Investment Promotion and Trade Development Agreement, which will promote further investment in Hungary.
The Hungarian minister noted that
Samsung SDI, SK Innovation, W-Scope and other South Korean companies related to the electric car industry have created and are creating more than 10,000 jobs in Hungary.
Meanwhile, bilateral trade turnover also set a new record, reaching $5 billion for the first time last year. It is also good news that exports of Hungarian meat products to one of Asia’s largest export markets could soon resume, he said.
Finally, Péter Szijjártó stressed that personal contacts and gestures are of great importance in the Eastern world, which is why they did not hold a formal meeting with Ahn Duk-geun in Budapest, but in a restaurant on the Danube in Dunakeszi.
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