Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade
The Chinese lithium-ion battery electrolyte producer KunlunChem is building its first European plant in Szolnok, and the HUF 40 billion (EUR 100 million) investment will create around a 120 new jobs, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced in Budapest on Friday.
At the announcement of KunlunChem’s investment, the Minister said that the Chinese company will build its first European plant in Szolnok (near Budapest by the Tisza river) with HUF 40 billion (EUR 100 million), which will create new jobs for approximately 120 people. In his speech, he pointed out that
KunlunChem is one of the world’s top five lithium-ion battery electrolyte producers and will be a supplier of state-of-the-art technology for BMW and Mercedes electric cars.
He also noted that high-tech operations would not be possible without a solid foundation, and Szolnok has a long tradition of this, as it has always been a bastion of the Hungarian chemical industry. According to him, the sector employs nearly 100,000 people in Hungary, and the Chinese company that is moving in also wants to rely on local workers, which is why it is important to cooperate as closely as possible with the Szolnok Center of Vocational Training.
Mr Szijjártó underlined that humanity is currently living in an era of crises and threats, but these challenges should not distract attention from environmental protection. He said that some people see this as a political issue, while the Hungarian government sees it more as a practical question of how to preserve the planet for future generations.
He recalled that road transport accounts for about one sixth of emissions and that it is therefore not possible to meet climate targets without the electrification of the automotive industry.
“It is no coincidence that there is huge international competition for all investments related to the electric car transition,” he said. In this context, he welcomed the fact that Hungary has become one of the leaders in the green car transition, a country where German and Chinese companies are building factories side by side, creating tens of thousands of jobs.
China is clearly dictating the pace of change in the world economy,”
he said. He also praised Hungarian-Chinese economic cooperation, saying that the East Asian country had become our country’s number one trading partner outside Europe. Hungary has attracted the most investment from China three times in the past five years. “We are proud that last year 44% of all Chinese investments in Europe came to Hungary (…) In the last ten years, the government has supported 64 major Chinese investments, which have generated an investment value of HUF 5,500 billion (EUR 14 billion),” he said.
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Via MTI; Featured picture: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
