The government has signed a strategic agreement with the Japanese company Zoltek that operates the world’s largest carbon fibre manufacturing plant in Nyergesújfalu, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade announced at the signing ceremony of the agreement held in the Ministry on Monday.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said that this had been the 56th strategic partnership agreement since July 2012. He emphasised that the 56 strategic partners of the government had created a total of 14,000 jobs in Hungary after concluding the partnership agreements.
The Minister said that Zoltek intends to expand their production capacity in the Nyergesújfalu plant, which entails the creation of 100 new jobs in the near future, and consultations are being held about the creation of further 200-300 new jobs within 2-3 years in the settlement near Esztergom. He added that 86 percent of the suppliers of the Nyergesújfalu plant are Hungarian companies.
The President and CEO of Zoltek Kawamura Masahiko explained that the company is a global leader in carbon fibre technology; it has 1,600 employees and their revenues had exceeded USD 200 million (HUF 56 billion) last year. A wide range of carbon fibre materials is manufactured in Nyergesújfalu, including flameproof fibres, as well as carbon fibre materials to be used in wind turbines, aircraft manufacturing and the automotive industry. The company concluded an agreement with the Budapest University of Technology and Economics about teaching carbon fibre technology also in Hungary, the CEO of Zoltek added.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó declared: “the long-term commitment of foreign companies investing here to their operation in Hungary is of key importance for the Hungarian economy; these strategic agreements are concluded also with this aim in mind”.
The Foreign Minister emphasised that Japanese investments always represent high added value and the latest technology; therefore, they “always create extremely valuable new jobs”. As he said, the aggregate investment by Japanese companies had amounted to USD 1.2 billion (HUF 336 billion), creating 4,000 new jobs in Hungary in the last two years. There are 149 Japanese companies operating in Hungary, employing 25,000 people altogether, he added.
Péter Szijjártó noted that Zoltek is to expand the manufacturing of automotive applications in Nyergesújfalu, and this is particularly important for the entire Hungarian national economy, considering that it would increase added value in the automotive industry and this sector, as he said, is the flagship of the Hungarian economy.
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)
