Hungary’s government on Wednesday signed a strategic agreement with German tyre maker Continental. The agreement was signed by National Economy Minister Mihály Varga, Continental board member Heinz-Gerhard Wente and Continental unit ContiTech Fluid Automotive Hungária managing director Mihály Nagy. Wente said Continental would cooperate with Hungarian research laboratories on product development and commit to creating workplaces and expanding its circle of suppliers within the framework of the agreement. Nagy said he had initiated the signing of the agreement in the name of the company. Continental unit ContiTech Fluid Automotive Hungária has production units in Makó and Vác, near the capital. The unit had profit of HUF 3 billion on revenue of HUF 42 billion in 2011. Since last summer, the government has signed strategic partnership agreements with the local units of Coca-Cola, Alcoa, Daimler, Suzuki, Hankook, General Electric, Microsoft, Stadler Rail, Tesco, IBM, Tata Consultancy Services, Nokia Siemens, National Instruments, Audi and Jabil Circuit as well as with Hungarian drugmaker Gedeon Richter. It expects to sign about 40 such agreements.