German carmaker BMW could start production at a plant in Hungary around 2023, German daily Stuttgarter Zeitung reported.

The factory to be built on a 400-hectare plot on the city’s outskirts will turn out conventional and electric cars using cutting-edge technology, he said. It will have capacity to manufacture 150,000 vehicles a year, Szijjártó said, adding that the factory will start off with 1,000 employees.

Szijjártó said BMW will take ownership of the site in the second half of next year and will begin recruiting next year. He said the investment would boost Hungary’s competitiveness and further strengthen Hungarian-German economic relations.

New technologies are constantly changing criteria for success, he said, adding that companies are continually competing for the application of new technologies while countries are always on the eye out for investment.

This new era has an especially big impact on open economies such as Hungary’s, he said. Szijjártó said Hungary’s entry to this competition comes along with low taxes, flexible labour regulation, dual vocational training and high-quality IT and technical training.

In a press release, BMW said Debrecen is “the ideal place” for the group to expand its production network, citing good infrastructure, suitable logistics connections, proximity to an established supplier network and the qualified local labour pool.

MTI Photo: KKM