Samsung mega-investment in Göd officially confirmed

Int’l Relations

Samsung will start manufacturing batteries for electric cars for the European market in Göd, northeast of Budapest, creating some 600 new jobs in a project worth HUF 100 billion, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said at a press conference Tuesday.

As reported by government website kormany.hu on Wednesday, the minister noted that Hungary beat out fierce regional competition to win the project, in return for major infrastructure developments to be undertaken in the region, while the town of Göd has agreed to reduce burdens on the Korean company. He added that this was necessary because, under EU regulations, the government cannot provide cash grants for a project in the vicinity of the capital. 

Se-Woong Jeong, vice president of Samsung SDI Hungary, said they are planning to reach full manufacturing capacity by 2018, when the company plans to supply batteries for some 50,000 electric vehicles.

Samsung SDI Hungary, which had sales revenues of HUF 76 billion in 2012, closed down its 322,000 square-meter TV picture tube factory in Göd in 2014 as demand for tubes sharply declined due to the high electricity consumption of plasma technology, kormany.hu recalled.

The government website noted that Samsung has half a million employees worldwide, and its sales revenues amounted to USD 300 bln last year.

Pro-government daily Magyar Idők reported in March that Samsung had sent a delegation to Hungary to discuss the planned investment. On Monday the newspaper reported that the company has already begun recruiting staff to work at the former TV tube-producing factory in Göd. A significant portion of the existing buildings are set to be renovated as part of the investment, besides new buildings, the report noted.

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