Govʼt incentives produce HUF 1.38 tln investments in 2018

“Last year was the most successful year of all time from the perspective of investment promotion; never before have so many and such high-value investments been made in Hungary,” Szijjártó said at a press conference in Budapest, cited by official government website kormany.hu.

Szijjártó claimed that the investments created 17,024 jobs that pay, on average, a gross HUF 425,700 a month, some 40% higher than the average salary in 2017. He added that these major investments contributed to enabling Hungary to achieve the third lowest rate of unemployment in the European Union.

German companies accounted for 28 of the big investments, spending a combined HUF 680 bln. Companies from the United States made 15 of the investments, while Hungarian-owned firms also made 15 investments, worth a total of more than HUF 100 bln.

The greatest number of investments - 36 of the 98 - were in the automotive sector. These were worth a combined HUF 851 bln, noted Szijjártó.

There were ten big shared service center (SSC) investments, and ten major investments in the electronics sector. Seven investments were technology-intensive, and ten were R&D investments.

The minister noted that following German carmaker BMWʼs decision to build a plant in Debrecen (eastern Hungary), Hungary is the only country in Europe, other than Germany, in which all three leading German carmakers will have production facilities.

“The success of the Hungarian government’s Eastern Opening policy is indicated by the fact that 17 major investments from South Korea, India, Japan and China were realized in Hungary last year,” Szijjártó asserted. He added that a total of 71,800 new workplaces have been created in the country via the investment promotion system since 2014, when foreign trade and foreign affairs policy were “unified.”