According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the shift in dimension of the Hungarian economy has been successful: following economic development based on production, increasing emphasis within the economy is now being placed on research, development and innovation.

Péter Szijjártó spoke about this at the official inauguration of German Diehl Aviation’s new engineering and service centre in Debrecen. The 2.76-billion-forint (EUR 8.7 million) service centre investment was assisted by the Hungarian Government with 968 million forints (EUR 3 million) in non-returnable funding, he told the press.

The investment is creating 151 new workplaces in Debrecen, of which 121 provide an employment opportunity for highly-trained staff with higher education diplomas.

According to the Minister, the Hungarian economy has successfully overcome the obstacles that regularly face the country in the interests of this dimensional change: “Hungary has successfully transitioned to economic activities that represent a higher added value and a higher level of technology”.

“This success was not given free”, the Minister added, noting that this required the lowest level of taxes in Europe and “us changing our investment promotion policy, which instead of the number of workplaces created now bases the level of government funding on the level of new technology brought into Hungary”.

Mr. Szijjártó referred to the fact that Hungary is now the world’s seventh most popular investment destination, which indicates that the Government’s investment promotion measures have been received positively, and in addition to new investors foreign businesses already operating in Hungary are also increasing their capacities.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade welcomed the fact that companies that until now have only had production capacities in Hungary are now increasingly also moving their service and research & development divisions here.

These companies include Diehl Aviation Hungary, which has been producing successfully in Nyírbátor for years, where they manufacture parts for various models of Airbus aeroplanes at a cost of 1.5 million dollars per plane.

Mr. Szijjártó thanked the workers at the plant in Nyírbátor for contributing with their outstanding work to enabling Diehl Aviation to establish an engineering and service centre in Debrecen.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade once again called the cooperation between the German and Hungarian economies, and between Germany and the economics of the countries of Central Europe a determining factor in the competitiveness of the whole of Europe, pointing out that trade flow between Germany and the countries of the Visegrád Group (Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the V4) is 60 percent higher than the annual trade flow between Germany and France.

“The six thousand German enterprises operating in Hungary provide jobs for300 thousand people, and 84 of the German companies operating here have indicated that they would invest in Hungary again”, Mr. Szijjártó confirmed in Debrecen.

Mayor of Debrecen László Papp (Fidesz-KDNP) indicated that Diehl Aviation is the third German enterprise to complete or begin a new investment project tin Debrecen since the beginning of this year. He welcomed the fact that the company has opened its only service and development centre outside Germany in Debrecen, which already employs sixty highly trained professionals.

The Mayor referred to fact that Diehl Aviation, which designs and manufactures aeroplane parts, established a mechanical engineering planning laboratory at Debrecen University’s Mechanical Engineering department last November, and the company was one of the first to join the mechanical engineering dual training system.

President of the Corporate Division Board of Diehl Aviation Rainer von Borstel told the press: the company has been present in Hungary for six years, and following their production plant in Nyírbátor they have now opened the service centre in Debrecen. There are currently 60 people working in the engineering and service centre, but a “major increase in staff” is expected, he pointed out. Head of Diehl Aviation Hungary’s engineering and service centre in Debrecen Roman Damschke confirmed that the choice of location was greatly contributed to by the local university, from which a large number of fresh were employed. “The young, motivated engineers are contributing to the development of Diehl Aviation and Debrecen”, he added.

Diehl Aviation is one of the divisions of Diehl Stiftung & CO. KG, which performs a host of aeroplane-production related activities as a leading supplier within the field of aeroplane system and cabin solutions. Its clients include airbus, Boeing, Bombardier and Embraer, as well as commercial and business airlines that operate aeroplanes.

(MTI)