On Friday, the Japanese investor MinebeaMitsumi opened its plant in the eastern Slovak town of Košice, where it plans to employ 1,100 workers. As the TASR press agency reported, the company, which will produce components for the automotive industry, also plans to operate a research and development centre as part of its facilities. Last year, the Slovak government greenlighted investment aid for the construction of the plant. "The value of the entire investment is €60 million. We supported it with €19 million in investment aid," said Economy Minister Peter Žiga. According to the public broadcaster RTVS, Slovakia was competing for this investment against Romania and the decisive factor was the possibility of cooperation with the Technical University in Košice.
Until now, MinebeaMitsumi has produced its components in Asia, subsequently delivering them to Europe. By opening the Košice plant, it is strengthening its position in Europe. According to executive director of Minebea Europe Jörg Hoffmann, the company focuses its research and development in Germany, but is struggling to find suitable experts there. "The Technical University in Košice is able to provide the educated people we need," said Hoffmann.
The construction of the plant took almost 10 months. The company plans the start of the production in several stages and aims to begin hiring its first workers in the coming days. According to the president of MinebeaMitsumi, Yoshihisa Kainuma, the company plans to build one more plant in Košice in the future. Furthermore, the government has earmarked €24 million to improve the infrastructure. According to RTVS, the city of Košice, the local airport and the plant should be connected by a tram route within the next three years. As of April 2018, the registered unemployment rate in Košice region stood at 8,96%, according to the Labour Ministry's data.
As the SME daily wrote on Sunday, over one million cars are produced in Slovakia per year in three plants - Volkswagen, Peugeot-Citroen and Kia. Moreover a fourth one, Jaguar Land Rover, should open in September 2018.
