The Hungarian government signed a strategic agreement with Japanese Alpine Electronics on Thursday in Budapest.
Minister of State for Economic Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Levente Magyar signed the agreement on behalf of the government and the Japanese automotive supplier was represented by the Director of European Operations of the company, Toshinori Kobayashi.
Levente Magyar said that this is the 58th strategic agreement concluded by the Hungarian government and a foreign investor, and the 7th one signed with a Japanese company. Thus Japan is the 3rd in the ranking of foreign investors signing a strategic agreement with the government after the USA and Germany, the Minister of State said.
The Hungarian government will give all the necessary assistance so that foreign investors, especially in the car industry, which is one of the leading sectors of the Hungarian economy and companies can find a long-term perspective in Hungary, he added.
„It is no coincidence that Alpine chose Hungary as an investment destination 17 years ago", Director of European Operations Toshinori Kobayashi said at the signing ceremony. He added that the company has long-term plans in Hungary.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced in January that the Japanese company is investing USD 39 million (nearly HUF 11 billion) to develop its factory in Biatorbágy thus doubling its production capacity by 2018 and creating 500 new jobs.
Currently 149 Japanese companies are present in Hungary and 46 of them are carrying out productive activity. The Japanese companies implemented investments with a total value of USD 4.5 billion in Hungary and have more than 25,000 employees in the country.