Semcorp received the “Investor of the Year 2020” award

At the event of “Investor of the Year 2020” Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Péter Szijjártó said that 2020 was the black year of the world economy, the volume of world trade fell by more than 56 percent. Meanwhile, Hungary has broken the investment record again. Last year, the government financed the investment of 1,435 companies; as a result, HUF 1,700 billion investment is taking place in the country.

Of the 907 projects, 97 involved foreign direct investment (FDI). Among these, awards were presented in eight categories at the HIPA “Investors of the Year” 2020 event. The “Investors of the Year” gala recognizes companies that have made the most significant investments and this year included a domestic supplier and an industrial park. 

In the case of the 97 priority FDI projects, Asian investors implemented 30 projects, 30.9 percent of all projects, worth EUR 1.2 trillion and creating 3,612 new jobs for the Hungarian economy.

With 20 projects, Germany made the most, new investments, while in terms of the number of jobs created, the United States led the list with 2,496 jobs, representing 24.7 percent of all jobs created.

In terms of sectoral breakdown, the electronics sector and the electromobility sector were at the forefront, including manufacturers of components for batteries for electric vehicles. Twenty-two projects in these sectors will create 3,320 new jobs and represent an investment of EUR 808 million 

It is still an important goal to get as many high-value-added service industry investments as possible to Hungary. Business service centers, info-communications investments, and R&D investments with 25 projects and more than 3,000 new jobs achieved a result that has never been seen before. 

HIPA also pays special attention to supporting and developing suppliers of Hungarian small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as preparing investment sites. Two award categories — “Industrial Park of the Year” and “Hungarian Supplier of the Year” — are specifically designed for such stakeholders. 

The awards were presented by Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Róbert Ésik, CEO of HIPA.

Largest Greenfield Investment of the Year

SEMCORP Hungary: Semcorp Group, a developer and producer of lithium-ion battery separator film, has established its first production unit outside of China in the city of Debrecen. The investment, worth more than EUR 183 million, will create 440 new jobs. 

Business Expansion of the Year

Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing Hungary Kft.: With an investment value of more than EUR 100 million, Mercedes-Benz announced that it had established a 23,000 m2 new, fully automatic press plant in March 2020.

Company of the Year for Job Creation

Lenovo Manufacturing Hungary Kft.: Lenovo established an in-house manufacturing unit in Hungary, their first in Europe to produce desktop computers, graphics workstations, and data center products, mainly for the European and African market. Lenovo’s investment in Üllő will create 1,000 jobs, including positions for IT specialists and engineers.

Centre of Excellence of the Year

Diligent Governance Hungary Kft.: More than 300 professionals with a high level of education will be working in Diligent’s new Center for Global Product Innovation in Budapest in the areas of software engineering, product management, quality assurance and more. The US-based Diligent Corporation is a leading governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) SaaS (Software as a Service) company providing various services to more than one million users from over 25,000 organizations around the globe.  

Business Services Centre Investment of the Year

Support Services Group Europe: With its headquarters in Wako, Texas, Support Services Group (S2G) chose Hungary as the location for its European center. The Budapest location will provide high-quality customer support to a leading streaming service company in five languages, covering eight countries and creating 300 jobs. 

R&D Investment of the Year

ARM Hungary Kft.:  ARM Group has been present in Hungary in the field of hardware and embedded software development since 2014. The firm has expanded its presence by investing EUR 9 million and creating 60 R&D-related positions in their Budapest office.

Industrial Park of the Year

Nyíregyházi Ipari Park Nonprofit Kft.: Many multinational companies are located in Nyíregyháza Industrial Park, which has a core area of 127 hectares. The industrial park will be expanded with an additional 88 hectares of industrial space to fulfill the requirements of new incoming inquiries.

Supplier of the Year

Hirschler Glas Kft.: The family-owned Hirschler-Glas Ltd., which manufactures glass and mirror parts for the automotive industry, supplies 26 manufacturers. Seventy percent of its exports are purchased by OEMs. In recent years, several R&D projects were successfully implemented and its productivity has increased. The company successfully applied for the HIPA-managed Subsidy to Improve Competitiveness, which helped it retain its 67 employees.