“Indian-owned Flex Films will be establishing a flexible packaging materials production plant in Rétság; the value of the investment is 23 billion forints (EUR 71.5 million), towards which the Government is contributing 2.8 billion forints (EUR 8.7 million) in funding”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced at a press conference in Budapest on Wednesday.

Mr. Szijjártó highlighted that thanks to its modern production technology, the new plant will be the first in Europe to manufacture flexible packaging materials. The investment will create 170 new jobs in Rétság.

In addition to Asia, Flex Film operates facilities in North America and Africa, and the Hungarian plant will be the second largest in Europe after Poland, he added.

The company employs 8100 people worldwide and serves clients in 140 countries. It is the only company to ship its own products to both Pepsi Cola and Coca-Cola, in addition to which it provides packaging materials for firms such as Ferrero Rocher, Nestlé and L’Oréal.

The Minister highlighted the fact that there was major reginal competition for the investment, and the fact that Invest India and the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency have concluded a three-year cooperation agreement played a major part in assuring that Hungary came out on top.

“India has now become the ninth most important investor in Hungary. Thanks to these investments, bilateral trade flow between the two countries has also begun to increase dynamically, achieving 665 million dollars last year, with exports increasing by 22 percent during the first eight months of this year and trade flow increasing by 9 percent”, he added.

Mr. Szijjártó also spoke about the fact that Indian companies played a major role in enabling the Hungarian economy to achieve economic growth of 5 percent during the third quarter of this year, which is more that double the EU average.

“This indicates that thanks to the preservation of investment trends and momentum, the target of keeping the growth of the Hungarian economy in the above 4 percent range within the long term is a realistic one”, the Minister declared.

“The plastics industry is also playing a significant role in this, which expanded by 14 percent during the first three quarters of the year, generated a production value of 1700 billion forints (EUR 5.28bn), and now employs over 42 thousand people”, he continued.

Owner of Uflex Ltd. Ashok Kumar Chaturvedi added that Flex Films will be supplying the European and American markets from Hungary.

Member of Parliament Mihály Balla (Fidesz) said the investment will be realised in the western part of Nógrád County, and will provide another opportunity for the region to gain strength and become more economically developed.

(MTI)