Hungary reopens consulate in Stuttgart, welcomes Daimler expansion plans

Stuttgart (MTI) – The German Daimler has started talks with the Hungarian government on the possibilities of expanding in Hungary, an official at the foreign ministry said.

Daimler is considering expanding its capacities at the Mercedes factory in Kecskemet, central Hungary, as well as upgrading technology, state secretary in charge of economic diplomacy Levente Magyar said after holding talks with a Daimler senior executive in charge of investments on Wednesday.

Daimler is “extremely satisfied” with the plant in Kecskemet which has produced outstanding results as part of the Stuttgart-based global Daimler network, Magyar said. He said there were no plans mentioned concerning any locations outside Kecskemet. The expansion could be completed in one or two years, he added.

Magyar also attended an investor forum in Stuttgart where medium-sized firms with holdings in Hungary were mulling further investment plans. Magyar said the company executives were “briefed first hand” on the business environment in Hungary as well as opportunities for support and the background of government decisions.

Talks with Reinhold Gall, Minister of the Interior of Baden-Wurttemberg, focused on responses to migration targeting Europe. Magyar said Hungary’s handling of entrants to the EU at its borders had a direct effect on Baden-Wurttemberg, which is one of the most popular destinations in Germany for economic migrants, “or often economic migrants presenting themselves as asylum-seekers”. He said talks between Hungary and Baden-Wurttemberg must start soon on how this “shared problem” can be tackled.

Earlier in the day Magyar re-opened the consulate general in Stuttgart, which closed in 2005. He said the state had tens of thousands of German residents with strong personal ties to Hungary. The relationship goes back to the early 1700s when the ethnic German Swabians were resettled to Hungary from these states, while many of their descendants were sent back there after the Second World War.

Baden-Wurttemberg is one of Hungary’s leading economic partners in Germany with the state’s 25 percent share in Hungary’s 40-billion-euro bilateral trade with Germany. Four out of nine German companies which signed strategic cooperations with the Hungarian government are from this state, Magyar said.

“Based on their population and economic size, Hungary and Baden-Wurttemberg can be considered equal partners,” Magyar said.

Addressing the ceremony, Gall welcomed the consulate’s reopening, which he said was “timely”, considering the special ties between Hungary and Baden-Wurttemberg.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters