“Bumchun Precision will be constructing its first plant outside South Korea here in Hungary with an investment of 13.3 billion forints (EUR 40.8 million)”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced at a press conference in Budapest on Wednesday.

Mr. Szijjártó told reporters that the Government is providing 2.65 billion forints (EUR 8.13 million) in funding towards the investment in view of the fact that the plant will be creating 200 new jobs as a first-tier automotive industry supplier. “The facility, which will be built in Salgótarján, will manufacture aluminium battery terminals for electric vehicles”, he added. According to the Minister, the value of the investment is also increased by the fact that during the upcoming decades automotive industry development is expected to be determined by the development of electric drive systems. “Accordingly, the Government would also like to develop Hungary into a determinative production location within this field, and it regards South Korea as an ally in view of the fact that it is in the most part investments realised by South Korean enterprises that are designating the winners of the new industrial era. “South Korea is the world’s second largest exporter with relation to e-mobility and Korean enterprises are the market leaders in all of the related fields, and for this reason the marked development of economic relations between the two countries is also expected to mean success for Hungary”, the Minister highlighted.

Mr. Szijjártó welcomed the fact that on the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations bilateral trade flow between the two countries increased by 41 percent during the first four months of this year, and 350 billion fronts (EUR 1.1 billion) in South Korean investment has already arrived in Hungary since the beginning of the year. “This is the first year in the history of the investment promotion system in which the most investment didn’t come from Germany, but from South Korea”, he highlighted. The Minister said that thanks to the increase in the rate of investment he expects the Hungarian automotive industry to already exceed an annual production value of over 10 thousand billion forints (EUR 30.7 billion) next year.

Member of Parliament for the Salgótarján area Károly Becsó (Fidesz) welcomed the fact that the city has been included on the country’s development map, that tourism and infrastructure development projects have been launched, and that local enterprises have acquired major funding. “The investment on the part of Bumchun Precision, which is bringing a new production culture to Salgótarján, indicates the extent to which growth has gained momentum”, the MP said, promising the investor’s representative calculability and cooperation.

At the press conference, President of Bumchun Precision Co. Ltd. Ri KI Jeon declared that the company’s culture is based on continuous development, and the reason it is coming to Hungary is also to manufacture state-of-the-art parts. The company president justified the choice of location with the fact that the local workforce is well-trained, the city’s industrial infrastructure is highly developed, and the geographical location provides favourable logistics conditions. Mr. Jeon called Hungary the “Mecca of European car production”, adding that the company would like to operate in the Nógrád County capital as a useful and welcome guest. Bumchun Precision’s subsidiary in Salgótarján was registered last year. The South Korean company was founded in 1982, and in addition to producing and developing parts for electronic equipment and mobile phones, a few years ago it also became involved in the manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)