Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó has announced that the automotive supplier Continental is about to create 681 new jobs in Hungary as part of its newest investment worth 5.1 billion forints; most of these jobs will be in the city of Nyíregyháza.

The Minister said that the Government has strongly supported the project by contributing 1.7 billion forints.

As part of the investment, new production lines will be installed in Continental’s Nyíregyháza factory, a production hall of some four thousand square metres will be refurbished and a new storage hall will also be built there.

Mr. Szijjártó recalled that at the end of August he had announced the investment project in Hungary by Continental, which has been present in the country since 1995. That project mainly concerned the Makó factory, but the recent one will primarily bring changes in Nyíregyháza, as 665 jobs will be created there, with the rest in Makó.

He also said that Continental is the world’s largest automotive supplier, and the car industry is the flagship of the Hungarian economy. In addition, reasons why the Government is supporting the project are that it will create jobs in the eastern part of the country and Continental is a German group, and Hungarian-German relations fundamentally determine Hungarian economic performance.

Mr. Szijjártó pointed out that a number of investments have been announced in the past few years, and this is testament to the fact that the Hungarian model is working; thus it is possible to sustain monetary discipline while creating new jobs and maintaining economic growth. He added that as a result of this, it seems that after downgrades, the period of upgrades may be coming.

He remarked that in the coming period Central Europe could certainly be the engine of European economic growth, since the countries of the region have been implementing significant structural reforms in order to establish a more competitive business environment. Political stability is also highly important, and thus Hungary is basically well-positioned in the competition for investment, he said.

The Minister highlighted the fact that Hungary has achieved great success in creating employment: it has been eighteen months since the number people employed in the country passed the four-million mark. The volume of investment is growing and economic growth is predictable and on a sustainable path, he added.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)