“Chinese-owned transport safety equipment manufacturer Joyson Safety Systems Hungary Ltd. will be expanding its plant in Miskolc; the value of the investment is 16 billion forints (EUR 50 million)”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced at a press conference in Budapest on Friday.

“The development project will also result in the introduction of a more modern production process and the installation of new technology. The government is contributing 4.9 billion forints (EUR 14.7 million) in cash funding towards the project”, he added. “This latest investment means yet another eastern large company has decided in favour of Hungary and is bringing state-of-the-art technology to Hungary; the investment was successfully won amidst stiff international competition”, the Minister said. “As a result, the world’s largest passive safety equipment manufacturing plant will be operating in Hungary; the buyers of the products manufactured at the company’s Miskolc plant include 35 major car manufacturers. In addition to production, the company also performs product development and product testing here, and 90 percent of the products manufactured go to export”, he added.

“Joyson has 100 production facilities in 30 countries, and employs over 50 thousand people”, the Minister told reporters. Mr. Szijjártó also spoke about the fact that Chinese-Hungarian trade flow broke all previous records last year, increasing by 10 percent to approach 9 billion dollars, and exceeding 5 billion dollars during the first seven months of this year. The Minister said that the government would like to increase the number of Chinese investments in Hungary; there are currently 16 Chinese investments in the country. City Clerk of Miskolc and candidate for the post of mayor Zoltán Alaszkai spoke about the fact that Misklc has taken the necessary action to establish a business environment that assists enterprises, a new industrial area has been developed, and the city has become a competitive investment location. “Joyson Safety Systems was the first new investor in the city, placing Miskolc on the automotive industry map, with suppliers employing over 6000 people. Its existing education institutions are offering Miskolc the opportunity to become an automotive industry research and development base that is acknowledged throughout Europe”, he stated.

Managing Director of Joyson Safety Systems Hungary Ltd. Kersten Hugo Bachmann told reporters that in 2013 the company decided to construct its new plant in Miskolc with an investment of 68 million euros and the creation of 2100 workplaces. The company would like to assume a position as global leader in the production of transport safety equipment, he explained. “The past five years are also proof of the fact that it was a good decision to establish the plant in Miskolc, and we are now expanding our existing production capacities with a further investment of 50 million euros”, he added.

(MTI)