“Lenovo will be constructing its first European plant in Hungary; production will already begin in early 2021”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced at a press conference in Budapest on Tuesday.
Mr. Szijjártó said the Chinese company’s computer production plant will be constructed in the Pest County town of Üllő with an investment of 8.2 billion forints (EUR 22.5 million). “The investment will be creating almost one thousand new workplaces over several phases, and for this reason the government is contributing 2 billion forints (EUR 5.5 million) towards the costs of the 30 thousand square metre production hall”, he added.
According to the Minister, the state funding is also justified by the fact that Lenovo will be marketing almost 90 percent of the products it manufactures here abroad, and as a result will be contributing a significant sum to the country’s export performance. “In addition, the investment will accelerate the proliferation of knowledge- and development-based production, and accordingly holds major opportunities for both the Hungarian economy and Hungarian engineers”, he added.
Mr. Szijjártó said promoting investments on the part of major corporations is an important element of Hungarian foreign economic strategy. “International companies are announcing production restrictions one after the other because of the crisis, but the recommencement of production will not be automatic. Following the pandemic, production capacities throughout the world will be concentrated in locations where they can operate the most efficiently and find the most favourable investment environment”, he emphasised.
According to the Minister, Lenovo’s decision confirms that leading tech companies have confidence in Hungary, and it also justifies the viability of Hungary’s Eastern Opening policy. “There is competition for Chinese capital everywhere around the world, including in countries that in public otherwise loudly criticise the far eastern state and even Hungary because of Chinese investments”, he added. He pointed out, however, that the majority of capital behind global investments has already been coming from the East for years, while the Western world ruled global investment prior to the 2008 crisis.
The Deputy President of Lenovo spoke about the details of the plant construction project in a video message. Guan Wei explained that the company will primarily be manufacturing desktop computers, graphics workstations and data centre products in Hungary, and the plant’s portfolio could expand with time. As he explained, Lenovo’s leadership examined several European sites, and eventually chose Hungary because of its central location, its outstanding infrastructure, its highly trained workforce, and its favourable business environment.
The region’s Member of Parliament Lajos Szűcs (Fidesz) said it is important that as many workers from Pest County are exempted from the need to commute to work daily, and are instead able to find employment in their own settlements. “Lenovo’s plant is also particularly important because, following the many logistics centres, it is bringing production activities to the vicinity of the capital”, he added. The MP emphasised that thanks to its highly developed infrastructure, Budapest’s southern area and its vicinity is an excellent investment location that is waiting to be exploited.