Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó called Hungary a winner of the new global economic era in the Veszprém County town of Litér on Monday, at the foundation laying ceremony of the German Sennebogen Group’s new steel parts production plant.

Mr. Szijjártó told reporters that the plant is being constructed on an area of 129 thousand square metres with an investment of 10 billion forints (EUR 30 million), and with the creation of 80 new workplaces, towards which the government is contributing 1.27 billion forints (EUR 3.8 million) in state funding.

“In the new global economic era, a time of new challenges, new technologies determine success, and the participants of the economy have found themselves in a new state of competitive”, he emphasised, noting that enterprises are competing for consumers, and countries are competing with each other to attract new development projects.

“Hungary is achieving success in this competition, since a new investment record has been set every year for the past five years, to which the fact that the Hungarian workforce is the most competitive in Europe is also contributing significantly”, Mr. Szijjártó said.

“This is also proven by the fact that Hungary is in 92nd place worldwide with respect to its population, but is in 34th place with relation to its export performance”, he stressed. “Hungary is one of only 35 countries in the world to export over 100 billion euros-a-year”, he emphasised, adding that achieving full employment was a major accomplishment.

“Veszprém County, with 160 billion forints (EUR 476 million) in investment over the past five years, creating 2900 new workplaces, has also contributed to this”, he said. “While unemployment in the County was 13 percent at the end of 2010, it has now fallen to 1.1 percent, and industrial production has increased by 150 percent during this same period”, he pointed out.

The Minister also spoke about the fact that Germany is Hungary’s number one trade partner, with trade flow between the two countries exceeding 54 billion euros last year, Hungarian exports increasing by a further 4 percent during the first two quarters of this year, and Hungary’s trade balance with Germany improving by 30 percent. “The 6 thousand German enterprises operating in Hungary provide jobs to over 300 thousand Hungarians”, he noted.

“The Sennebogen Group employs 550 people in Hungary, and the level of satisfaction of German enterprises is indicated by the fact that 82 percent of them would invest in Hungary again”, Mr. Szijjártó added.

Owner of TLC Ltd. Walter Sennebogen told reporters that according to plan, production at the new plant will being at the end of next year; the company will be welding metal parts, which will then be assembled in the company’s German factory.

The company was founded in 1952, and opened shop in Hungary in 1993, beginning in a barn in Tatabánya using rented equipment, following which production moved to Balatonfüred.

Managing Director of TLC Ltd. Michael Seiferling said the new plant is designed to meet increased demand, and its operation will be rewarding for the whole region. Mayor of Litér Attila Szedlák (Fidesz-KDNP) said the new facility bears with it the promise of an economic upturn, and represents the beginning of a new age in the life of the settlement.

(MTI)