Turkish Sisecam receives €1.8 million grant from Hungarian state

A signal achievement of the past 10-12 years is that the Hungarian economy is supported by multiple pillars and many of its sectors are globally competitive, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said in Aszód on Tuesday, announcing an investment by Turkey’s Sisecam Group which manufactures glass products for the automotive industry.

The country’s economic diversity has helped it overcome the global economic crisis, Szijjártó said.

The foreign ministry noted in a statement that

the government is providing a grant of 650 million forints (EUR 1.8m) in support of Sisecam’s 3 billion forint (EUR 8.3 m) development to be completed by the end of this year, adding 100 jobs.

Szijjártó said at the event that coronavirus-related restrictions had cost the country 10-15 billion forints each day, so reopening the economy two months ahead of competitors had been of huge significance and contributed to the country’s investment record and annual growth of over 6 percent.

The minister said

the government has launched “one of the biggest investment promotion schemes ever”, with 290 billion forints given in support of 30 industries with a view to boosting competitiveness.

Noting that car-making is the “backbone of the Hungarian economy”, he said that it was instrumental that suppliers should increase their capacity. Sector output in the first 11 months of last year totalled 8,700 billion forints, while car-making provides 160,000 jobs in the country, he added.

Turkey, he said, is a “strategic partner and friend” of Hungary. Bilateral trade turnover grew by 15 percent in 2021, and was worth 4 billion euros, he added.

In 2021, Sisecam announced a new 73 billion plant in Kaposvar, creating 329 new jobs.

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