Foreign minsiter: New South Korean investments to create 300 jobs
Investments by four South Korean companies in Hungary worth a combined 70 billion forints (EUR 211.6m) will create 300 new jobs, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said after talks with his South Korean counterpart Kang Kyung-wha in Seoul on Thursday.
The agreements on the investments were signed on Thursday.
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The total value of South Korean investments in Hungary is expected to reach a record 900 billion forints this year, with the bulk of the investments being made in the auto and health industries, the minister said.
This will make South Korea Hungary’s largest foreign investor in 2019, he added.
It is therefore crucial that Hungary be capable of attracting high-tech investments that create high value-added jobs in the era of electro-mobility as well, he said, adding that South Korea was the clear leader in the global electric auto sector.
The minister noted that Hungary has signed multiple major agreements in recent months that have seen big name companies bring large investments to the country’s electric auto sector.
Hungary has clearly become “the European flagship” of the new era of the auto industry, Szijjártó said, noting that a large chunk of the electric vehicle batteries used on the continent are being made in the country.
He said the “success story” that is Hungarian-South Korean cooperation would contribute significantly to the modernisation and “dimensional shift” of Hungary’s economy.
In contrast to global and European trends, the output of Hungary’s auto industry has increased by 14 percent so far this year, largely thanks to the recent South Korean investments, he said.
Szijjártó is scheduled to hold talks with representatives of a number of major South Korean companies throughout the day.
