Bosch completes HUF 36 billion expansion at automotive steering unit in Hungary

Budapest (MTI) – German engineering giant Bosch completed a 36 billion forint (EUR 115.2m) capacity expansion at its steering systems base in Maklar, in northeast Hungary, on Monday.

Fast changes in global politics and the global economy mean that the race for investors is intensifying, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said at the project’s closing ceremony. The minister said the fierce global competition requires new winning strategies.

Szijjarto said Hungary has responded well to global economic challenges and that Hungary’s economic model has succeeded in boosting economic growth. The minister noted that Hungary’s economy grew by 3.6 percent in 2014 and is on course to expand by 2.8 percent in 2015, adding that the country’s employment rate is at a 23-year high. He said Hungary has steadily kept its budget deficit below 3 percent and is constantly reducing its public debt.

Robert Bosch Automotive Steering won a 2.7 billion forint European Union and state grant for the investment, which created 130 jobs, Javier Gonzalez Pareja, head of the Bosch group’s businesses in Hungary, said.

Robert Bosch Automotive Steering currently employs 960 people.

The unit was earlier called ZF Lenksysteme Hungaria but was renamed after Bosch bought out its partner in the 50-50 joint venture with ZF Friedrichshafen.

Photo: MTI

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