At the ceremony, János Lázár, Minister of Construction and Transport, stressed that the Eastern Opening is working, not only as a foreign policy strategy, but also in economic reality.

The politician, who is also a member of the region’s parliament, said that the government’s conscious decision to replace the automotive industry with an investment in the food industry in Makó was the result of a conscious decision. The world’s population will continue to grow in the coming years, and there will be a need for good quality, healthy food in every corner of the globe. And the city has a centuries-old tradition of producing quality food.

The politician said that the government had generously supported the investment. He said the government has been tasked to complete the infrastructure to serve the plant in the next 12 months and to have the factory operational by September 2024. A power, water and sewage network will be built to allow the plant to expand.

Levente Magyar, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, said that Makó and its surroundings are a region of Hungary that has not been treated with mercy by history. However, Chinese working capital has arrived at the right time, and the region is now shaking off a century-old burden imposed by history: the borders separating it from its neighbours are gradually dissolving, and transport and infrastructure developments are bringing back the golden age of the region.

The politician stressed that the investment has a huge future potential, as a Chinese giant investor with an annual turnover of HUF 40,000 billion, equivalent to two thirds of Hungary’s GDP, is coming to the region. He stressed that the successful completion of the Makó plant would open up a development path for the region that had previously been unimaginable.

Csang Je, Managing Director of Benepack Hungary Kft. and CEO of the parent company COFCO Packaging, said that the establishment of the Makó plant for aluminium cans is the second milestone in the company’s European development. The aim of the investment is to enable the company to provide more cost-effective and environmentally friendly packaging solutions to its customers – beer and soft drink producers – in Hungary and the surrounding countries.

Isabel Cseng, Global Sales Director, said the company, a core business of the COFCO food processing group, produces packaging for a wide range of consumer goods – tin, aluminium and plastic packaging, mainly for manufacturers of consumer goods: canned food, beverages, household chemicals.

Founded in 1991, the company, listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, employs 6,000 people and has annual revenues of $1.3 billion. In 2020, it will set up its first European plant in Genk, Belgium, with an investment of €120 million, producing 2 billion aluminium cans a year.

The Mako plant will be built at a cost of €65 million (HUF 25.3 billion). The new production base, which will employ 120 people, will be capable of producing up to one billion two-piece aluminium cans a year.

(Source: MTI)