India’s Apollo Tyres is investing 4.4 billion forints (EUR 12.4m) at its plant in Gyöngyöshalász, in northern Hungary.
The tyre maker is upgrading its production lines and expanding its product range, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign affairs and trade minister, said on Monday. The Hungarian government is supporting the investment with a 1.4 billion forint non-refundable grant, he said, adding that the project will help keep 1,000 people employed.
Szijjártó said the Indian company was a key player in the “success story” that was the government’s policy of opening up to the East.
Hungary’s trade turnover with the East has increased by 25 percent since it introduced the policy ten years ago, and last year, for the first time, Hungary received more investments from the East than from the West, the minister said.
Some 60 percent of Hungary’s foreign investments last year were made by Eastern companies, accounting for 40 percent of the new jobs created, he said.
Featured photo by Péter Komka/MTI
