“Bosch plans to realise a 19 billion forint (EUR 61M) investment at its plant in Hatvan, with which it will create 601 new jobs; the Hungarian Government is providing HUF 4.7 billion in non-repayable funding towards the development project”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced at a press conference in Budapest.
With this investment, Bosch is taking steps towards the 22nd century, because the factory will be producing central control systems for state-of-the-art, next generation electric and hybrid cars, new types of long and mid-range radars as well as various sensors, meaning the city will be the site of utterly high tech production, he added.
The Minister spoke about the fact that 2015 had been a year of broken records for Hungarian foreign trade; never in the history of the Hungarian economy has the level of exports been so high, in addition to which last year also saw Hungary’s highest ever foreign trade balance, he said.
This is yet another indicator that the fact that the country is practising a foreign trade orientated foreign policy was the correct approach; it has been proven that focusing Hungarian foreign policy on foreign trade was the right decision, he added.
The Minister also mentioned the fact that cooperation between Hungary and Bosch had also broken records last year with the joint announcement of four new Hungarian investment projects, and highlighted that this excellent cooperation had also contributed to the Bosch Group employing some 12200 people in Hungary, of whom 1500 work in the area of research and development. In addition to the latest investment, several other Bosch projects are also expected to be announced soon in view of the fact that negotiations are already underway on further opportunities in Hungary, he indicated.
Mr, Szijjártó stressed that investment on the part of Bosch had also contributed to the automotive industry having produced a level of value never before seen in the history of the Hungarian economy last year; according to figures for the first eleven months of the year, the sector produced 7302 billion forints (EUR 23.5bn) in production value, while the Hungarian automotive industry realised a total production value of HUF 6659bn during the whole of 2014.
It is also probable that last year saw the highest ever level of Hungarian-German trade, which also indicates that Hungarian-German economic cooperation fundamentally determines the success of the Hungarian economy and of Hungarian foreign trade, Mr. Szijjártó highlighted.
The Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA) played a significant role in the realisation of foreign investment in Hungary; the organisation successfully negotiated 67 investment projects last year, becoming the most successful investment agency in Central Europe, the Minister said.
At the press conference, Germany’s Ambassador to Budapest Mr. Heinz-Peter Behr pointed out that Bosch operates a dual training centre in Hatvan, stressing that German-Hungarian relations are extremely solid and global challenges must be faced together within the European Union.
Head of Bosch Hungary Javier González Pareja told reporters: Hungary is one of the most important locations for the Group, which employed more than 12 thousand people last year via its 9 subsidiaries, and the plant in Hatvan is one of the Bosch Group’s strategic bases of operation.
Bosch has been present in Hungary since 1989. The small company re-established in 1991 has since grown to become one of Hungarian industry’s largest foreign employers.
The Group’s nine Hungarian subsidiaries realised a combined turnover of 825 billion forints (EUR 2.65bn) in the 2014 business year. The Bosch Group employs 375 thousand people worldwide and according to preliminary figures achieved a turnover of over 70 billion euros in 2015.