Hungary and Coca-Cola’s modern economic histories have intertwined, with the operations of the American company holding significance beyond its own scope in our country in various aspects, stated Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó on Tuesday in Dunaharaszti.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the minister, during the inauguration ceremony of the Coca-Cola HBC Hungary Ltd factory, announced that the US-owned company has established a new unit worth 8.7 billion forints, covering an area of 3000 square metres. This expansion increases the plant’s capacity by 30 per cent, allowing the production of ten bottles per second. The project was granted a state subsidy amounting to 740 million forints.
The minister pointed out that the modern economic histories of Coca-Cola and Hungary are intertwined, leading the government to enter into its very first strategic cooperation agreement with the beverage manufacturer. The company
exports its products from Hungary to seventeen countries, purchasing two-thirds of its raw materials from Hungarian sources.
In his speech, Szijjártó first recalled the challenges of recent years and praised the success of government measures, especially incentives for investments, which prevented the emergence of mass unemployment. He emphasized the rejection of a ‘violent attempt’ to return to aid-based economic policies and highlighted the robust investment support program initiated during the coronavirus pandemic and following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. The former resulted in a total of 800 billion forints worth of investments, while the latter, with a budget of 150 billion forints, has seen and will see various projects come to fruition.
‘While the global economy was trying to weather the dark years, the Hungarian economy in 2022 produced its best year ever,’ he declared, recalling the breaking of records in investments, exports, and employment last year.
He asserted that all of this is attributed to the continuous influx of investments into Hungary. Szijjártó Péter believes that these results would not have been achievable without American companies. He informed that
US companies now constitute the second largest community of investors in Hungary,
and the value of bilateral trade surpassed eight billion dollars last year, setting a record. Moreover, with an expected 11 per cent growth this year, new peaks are anticipated.
‘Furthermore, the most functional aspect of Hungarian-American relations lies in economic, trade, and investment cooperation, so we sincerely hope that the positive impact of this continuously improving collaboration will extend benevolently to all areas of cooperation,’ he expressed.
CEO of Coca-Cola HBC Hungary László Békefi emphasized in a statement that with the most advanced manufacturing technology available within the Coca-Cola HBC Group, they have established a production base in Dunaharaszti that meets the expectations of the 21st century. With this significant new investment, the company can contribute to the growth of the Hungarian economy.
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