Samsung Electronics Inc. will employ 1,200 people at the plant to be built near Trnava, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Bratislava, the Slovak capital. The company will receive state aid equivalent to 21.9% of the project’s costs, Jahnatek said after signing a contract with the company today. Slovakia expects the inflow of foreign investment to help the former communist country catch up with its western European Union peers. Samsung’s plant will be the third-biggest greenfield investment in the country after carmakers Kia Motors Corp. and PSA Peugeot Citroen invested €1 billion and €700 million, respectively, to open two factories last year. „This is another piece of evidence that Slovakia is a country that is very interesting for investors,” Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said.
Samsung is counting on demand for televisions to fuel growth as more consumers replace glass-tube models with flat panel TVs. The Samsung plant will be capable of producing 10 million LCD modules a year by 2012, with expected yearly sales of 80 billion koruna ($3.1 billion), the minister said. Seven Samsung suppliers will also build factories in Slovakia, investing an additional 10 billion koruna and creating 4,500 jobs, he said. Production at the factory will start in March 2008 and reach half the capacity by December, Jahnatek said. The South Korean company already makes TVs and audio gear at a factory in Galanta, southwestern Slovakia. Last year, it also opened a logistics center, bringing its investment in the eastern European country to €131 million. Samsung is Asia’s biggest maker of semiconductors and mobile phones. (Bloomberg)
Producing journalism that is worthy of the name is a costly business. For over 30 years, the publishers, editors and reporters of the Budapest Business Journal have striven to bring you business news that works, information that you can trust, that is factual, accurate and presented without fear or favor.Newspaper organizations across the globe have struggled to find a business model that allows them to continue to excel, without compromising their ability to perform. Most recently, some have experimented with the idea of involving their most important stakeholders, their readers.
We would like to offer that same opportunity to our readers. We would like to invite you to help us deliver the quality business journalism you require. Hit our Support the BBJ button and you can choose the how much and how often you send us your contributions.
