Following the 16 billion HUF investment by Schneider Electric, a French electronics company, 500 new jobs will be created in Dunavecse in the coming years, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced on Friday.
According to a statement released by the MFAT, the minister reminded at the groundbreaking ceremony of Schneider Electric’s new, carbon-neutral factory that this will be the company’s fifth plant in Hungary where they will produce medium voltage equipment for electric distribution systems. The 16 billion HUF investment, supported by the state with a 2.3 billion HUF grant, is expected to provide 500 jobs for residents in the region after 2025. The ceremony was also attended by French Ambassador to Hungary Claire Legras.
In his speech, Péter Szijjártó emphasised that the world has been turned upside down twice in the past three years, and the recent period has brought extraordinary security and economic risks. Despite all these challenges, the Hungarian economy achieved a ‘fantastic hat trick’ last year, breaking records in investments, export performance, and employment.
He stated that despite the difficulties and ongoing challenges, the government will not want to back down this year. The minimum expectation the administration has set for itself is to bring even more investments to Hungary this year than in the record year of 2022, and for the Hungarian economy to export even more than last year. The minister added that two things are absolutely necessary for the execution of such a plan: political stability and strategic tranquillity.
Szijjártó stated that the government will not abandon its fundamental economic policy goals, that is full employment and the requirement for the smallest possible taxes on labour in Hungary. ‘Of course, this requires new and more investments,’ he said.
The minister also mentioned that after a 36 per cent growth in the production value of the Hungarian electronics sector last year, a record was set when the value of production exceeded 10 trillion forints for the first time. In the first two months of this year, the sector, which employs approximately 150,000 people with a 94 per cent export share, also registered a 47 per cent growth. ‘The success of the Hungarian economy largely depends on exports, so any investment made now can help us achieve new and new export records,’ he pointed out.
He welcomed the fact that Hungary and France have a cooperation based on common sense, and also reminded that French companies make up the sixth-largest investor community in Hungary. In the past eight years, 34 major French corporate investments have received financial support from the government. As a result, the volume of bilateral trade was record high last year, reaching 10 billion euros for the first time, with Hungarian exports accounting for more than six billion euros of that figure.
‘Moreover, when we talk about energy transition, we will strengthen the Hungarian-French cooperation here as well…We will significantly strengthen the French involvement in the expansion of the Paks nuclear power plant, thanks to the reasonable, rational, and fair attitude of the French government,’ he emphasised.
Schneider Electric has been present in Hungary since 1991, employing around two thousand people in its current four factories, one logistics centre, and two business service centres.
