“Valeo Auto-Electric Hungary Ltd. is investing tens of billions of forints to develop its plant in Veszprém and the Government is funding the project with almost one billion forints (EUR 3M)”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Minster of State for Parliamentary Affairs László Szabó announced at a press conference in Budapest on Monday.
Mr. Szabó said the Veszprém project is also proof that foreign companies do not regard Hungary as simply an assembly station in view of the fact that every eight person employed worldwide by automobile part by manufacture Valeo and five hundred of the 1900 people employed in Veszprém work within the field of Research and Development.
The Government plans to continue to maintain a stable and secure environment for foreign investors, he added, calling reindustrialisation important and highlighting the fact that 27.5 percent of Hungary GDP was generated by industry in 2015.
County Development Commissioner Zoltán Kovács stressed: the Veszprém company conducts innovative developments and currently employs 500 development engineers. This also has a positive effect on the job market, because it is easier university students who complete their studies in the city to find work.
Mayor of Veszprém Gyula Porga (Fidesz) said the city’s industrial output increased by 40 percent between 2010 and 2015, while the rate of unemployment currently stands at around 2.5 percent, meaning Veszprém’s most pressing problem is currently a lack of skilled labour.
Valeo Auto-Electric Hungary Ltd’s Factory Manager Levente Fonyódi said the company would be performing 33 million euros in developments in Veszprém over the course of the next three years with which it will create 180 new jobs. The project, which involves the development of warehousing technology and launching the manufacturing of new products, also includes the construction of a new, 13 thousand square metre production hall, Mr. Fonyódi said in reply to a question form the press.
The company views as its mission environmental awareness and reducing carbon dioxide emissions, as well as the design, development and production of driver assistance systems, he added.
Valeo employs some eighty thousand people at one-hundred-and-thirty locations in thirty countries on five continents.
Valeo Auto-Electric Hungary Ltd. achieved net revenues of almost 265 million euros in 2014 and over 345 million euros in 2015. The company posted after tax profits of 2.3 million euros in 2014 and 1.1 million euros in 2015.