Mr. Szijjártó said the Hungarian economy is the fastest growing economy in the European Union, with unemployment having fallen to just 3.3 percent from the previous 12.5 percent. “The country's international competitiveness is indicated by the fact that it is ranked 92nd in the world in terms of population, but 34th in the export rankings”, he declared.

“The results required the people's performance, the courage of companies, and the economic policy thanks to which the lowest taxes in Europe are payable in Hungary”, the politician stressed. Mr. Szijjártó stated that German companies have played a huge role in the successful transformation of the Hungarian economy. Trade flow between the two countries was 54 billion euros last year, with Hungarian exports rising by exactly 60 percent over a period of ten years.

“Germany is the largest investor in Hungary, with 6,000 German companies employing 300,000 people. Over the past five and a half years, the Government has concluded investment agreements with 101 German companies, which have resulted in 2,000 billion forints (EUR 6 billion) in total investment in Hungary”, the Minister said.

“Duocor is expanding its hospital, school and office furniture, and school board manufacturing capacity with a 3.2 billion-forint (EUR 9.6 million) investment, to which the Government is contributing 634 million forints (EUR 1.9 million)”, Mr. Szijjártó said. “As part of the investment project, a two-story, 8,000-square-meter production hall has been completed at a cost of nearly one billion forints (EUR 3 million), where barracks furniture is manufactured almost exclusively for the German army”, the politician said. Peter Szijjártó pointed out that the past five years have been a clear success story for Makó, which has become one of the most dynamically developing settlements in the Southern Great Plain region of Hungary.

Owner of Duocor Michael Stegner said the inauguration of the new production hall was the "highlight" of the company's dynamic development. “The extremely modern hall, the well-trained staff, and the modern technology will enable us to meet all challenges”, he added. “In addition to the ever-improving infrastructure, the long-term, predictable economic policy of the Hungarian Government was also a precondition for the development project”, Mr. Stegner emphasised.

Mayor Éva Erzsébet Farkas (Fidesz-KDNP) said that Duocor is a dynamically developing company that plays an important social role, and is extremely important to Makó. “More than a thousand new jobs have been created and maintained in Mako over the past five years, and the number of registered unemployed has fallen to nearly a quarter of its previous figure”, the politician said. According to publicly available company data, in 2018 Duocor, which has 347 employees, generated net sales of EUR 18,397 million, up 4.4 percent from the previous year, of which exports amounted to EUR 16.444 million. The company posted EUR 1,547 million in after tax profits, an increase of over EUR 240 thousand compared to 2017.

According to the information provided on site to the press, Duocor opened its Hungarian manufacturing base in 1993 with a production area of 30,000 square meters on a 10-hectare site in Makó. The company has extensive experience in the production and logistics of repetitive, small and medium series products with many variations. Between 2010 and 2015, the company invested in efficiency improvements and installed state-of-the-art manufacturing technology equipment at the Makó plant. In 2016, a new corporate governance system was introduced, and the company brought its polyurethane casting technology over to Hungary from Germany. The ASS group, of which Duocor is a member, is owned by the Bavaria-based Stegner family and is one of the leading suppliers of school and military barracks furniture in Germany. The largest clients of the company are German budgetary institutions.

(MTI)