Instead of German-French cooperation, which was regarded as Europe1’s leading strength for many years, economic relation between the countries of the Visegrád Group and Germany are increasingly determining the development of the continent”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said at a press conference to announce a new investment by medical technology company B. Braun Medical Hungary Limited.
Concerning his meeting with his German counterpart, Mr. Szijjártó stressed: “Last week in Berlin Sigmar Gabriel and I agreed that the axis of Europe’s economy is shifting towards Central Europe”. “Germany’s trade from with the V4 is 55 percent higher that with France, it twice the level of trade with Great Britain, and is even higher in comparison to German-Italian trade flow”, he added.
“During the upcoming years, cooperation between Germany and the Central European states, which represent a politics of common sense, will be the key to restoring European competitiveness”, he said.
The Minister explained that Hungarian-German economic relations within the region are also developing dynamically, in view of the fact that following last year’s record, trade flow between the countries increased by a further 50 billion euros, setting a new record. “28 percent of the foreign working capital in Hungary is linked to German companies, and 29 out of the 96 major foreign investments that arrived in Hungary last year were made by German enterprises at a total value of 400 billion forints (EUR 1.3bn), creating 6500 new jobs”, he added.
Mr. Szijjártó stressed that the Government has contributed to the reinforcement of economic relations by creating a dependable and competitive investment environment. The results of this have also been confirmed by the German-Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as for the first time in the history of the organisation’s surveys the majority of the German companies operating in Hungary as planning new investments and two thirds of them are planning to employ more staff.
With relation to B. Braun’s investment in Gyöngyös, the Minister told the press that the Government is assisting the company’s 30.7 billion forint (EUR 100 million) project with 6.1bn forints of non-returnable cash funding. “The company is realising the largest single investment of recent years, and will be creating over 400 new workplaces”, he added. Mr. Szijjártó justified the high level of government funding with the investment’s job market effects, extremely high added value and advanced technology, stressing that France and several other countries in the region had also been in competition for the project.
“Over the past four decades, B. Braun has brought some 60 billion forints of investment to Hungary and employs some 100 Hungarian development engineers; last year its Hungarian turnover exceeded 40 billion forints and the company undertakes a high level of social responsibility”, the Minister added. The company exports 90 percent of the products it manufactures in Gyöngyös, which according to Mr. Szijjártó indicates that the meeting of German technology and the Hungarian workforce “always ends in success on the international market”.
The Minister also highlighted the fact that the production value of the medical instruments sector in Hungary increased by 5 percent last year to 260 billion forints (EUR 840 million), and the number of people employed within the sector increased by 11 percent.
Chairman of B. Braun Melsungen AG’s supervisory board, Ludwig-Georg Braun announced that the company will be constructing a new production centre in Gyöngyös for its line of infusion and transfusion accessories. He stressed that in addition to production, major development work is also going on in the Heves County town. “These activities are made possible by the excellent relations we maintain with Hungarian universities and the region’s education institutions”, he added.
B. Braun would like to participate in dual training, and it providing scholarships to enable it to supplement its workforce with highly-trained Hungarian staff, he said.
Mr. Braun stressed that the new production capacities are made necessary in view of increasing market demand. “The investment is also a recognition of our confidence in Hungary and of the development it has achieved in recent years”, he added.
At the press conference, the region’s Member of Parliament László Horváth (Fidesz-KDNP) highlighted the fact that B. Braun provides a living for over a thousand local families, and has achieved a significantly higher than average level of employee satisfaction of over 80 percent. “In addition, the company provides funding for child welfare, education, cultural and sports activities in the spirit of social responsibility”, he added.
Together with its subsidiaries, the German company, which produces thousands of different healthcare and pharmaceutical products, including anaesthetic, cardiology and blood treatment products, employs over 60 thousand people worldwide, and in 2016 its realised gross turnover of 6.5 billion euros and net profits of 600 million euros.
B. Braun Medical Hungary Limited was founded in 1991 and currently employs some 1400 people.
(MTI)
