Hauni Hungary Ltd. announced an 18-million-euro investment on Friday in Budapest; the project will be receiving some 3 million euros in state funding.

At the announcement of the project, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Parliamentary State Secretary justified the special government decision regarding funding with the fact that the investment will be installing state-of-the-art mechanical industry technology at the plant in Pécs, and creating 100 new workplaces.

Levente Magyar welcomed the fact that the Baranya County capital is also developing at an increasingly rapid rate economically, thanks to which thousands of jobs that require a high level of professional training have been created in the city recently.

“The development of the Southern Transdanubia region began to a significant degree thanks to the efforts of the Government, and will continue in the upcoming years”, he added. He highlighted, amongst others, the infrastructure development projects, and primarily the expansion of the road network and the development of Pogány Airport. “Growth prospects are excellent not only in Pécs, but throughout the country, and German mechanical industry investment could play a major role in the development of the Hungarian economy”, he stressed.

Managing Director of Hauni Hungary Ltd. Gábor Katona told reporters that during the company’s 25 years of operation they had spent almost 31 billion forints (EUR 98 million) on development projects in Pécs. During the course of the latest project, which will be completed in 2020, the plant will be fitted with state-of-the-art equipment to facilitate an increase in production capacity and improve efficiency. According to Mr. Katona, the investment is not only vital to enable further growth, but also to ensure that Hauni preserves its market positions and remains one of the city’s largest taxpayers.

“We must also adapt to challenges because the machine production industry is in continuous worldwide transition; demands are changing and demands from buyers are becoming increasingly strict” he emphasised. The Deputy Mayor of Pécs told the press that thanks to the increasingly regular investments, the city is whittling down its economic disadvantage. István Décsi added that the highly-trained local workforce and the high level of education had also caught the attention of international companies.

Hauni Hungary Ltd. is a subsidiary of Hauni Maschinenbau GmbH, which is based in Hamburg and is present in over 20 countries. The Hungarian subsidiary has been operating in Pécs since 1994, and it began production on 10 thousand square metres and a staff of 210 following the acquisition of the production halls and machinery of the former Sophianae Machine Production Company. A major plant expansion was announced in 2013. By then, the total production area exceeded 45 thousand square metres and the company was already employing over one thousand people.

According to information published last year, the company took on 200 new staff to increase the number of employees to 1350. The new employees were mostly given jobs within the fields of metalwork and mechanics. In 2018, the company concluded a strategic partnership agreement with the University of Pécs, prior to which it also established its own training workshop with an investment of 160 million forints (EUR 500,000), with which it supports the vocational training of future engineers and skilled workers.

In 2017, Hauni Hungary Ltd. realised net turnover of 109 million euros and after-tax profits of 8.6 million euros. In the previous year, these figures were 90.3 million and 5.1 million, respectively.

(MTI)