Japanese companies have an important role in Hungary’s economic growth and see Hungary as a primary target when eyeing European expansion, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said after talks with Japanese Minister of Agriculture Kotaro Nogami.
Japanese companies are the eighth largest investor community in Hungary, Szijjártó told MTI after the talks in Tokyo, with over 180 Japanese companies employing some 34,000 Hungarians. A prominent Japanese pharmaceutical company is slated to conclude an investment in Nyergesújfalu, in northern Hungary, this year. The 140 billion forint (EUR 380.6m) investment will create some 200 jobs in a plant manufacturing parts for electric batteries, Szijjártó said. During the visit, Szijjártó also met Japanese company executives, and signed an agreement between a Japanese bank and Hungary’s Eximbank on the joint financing of Japanese investments in Hungary. The aim is to further increase the presence of Japanese companies in Hungary because “they always bring high-level technology and high-prestige workplaces for Hungarians,” Szijjártó said. He also noted that Japan had been the first country to lift the ban on Hungarian pork exports after the African Swine Flu hit the country last year. Japan is now accepting exports from five Hungarian counties not affected by the epidemic, Szijjártó said.
hungarymatters.hu
