Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency

Each year at the "Investors of the Year" award ceremony the companies executing the most substantial investments of the previous year are recognized together with a supplier and an industrial park.

The year 2021 registered extraordinary activity concerning HIPA-guided projects. Total investment volume reached new highs at nearly EUR 5.9 billion, and the largest single FDI greenfield investment ever was also made by South Korean SK On worth EUR 1.9 bln. The all-time high investment volume materialized in 422 projects that created some 14,000 new jobs. Out of those, 96 large projects accounted for investments of up to EUR 5.3 bln more than half of which is linked to South Korea alone. Asian investors prevailed in general as well by securing roughly 60% of FDI. In total eight deals worth over 100 million were closed.

The most projects were brought to Hungary by Germany that was involved in 24 deals, whereas the U.S. finished second in this comparison with 11 of them. The Korean companies exceled not only in this regard by landing the third most 9 projects but also in job creation in which category they ranked first with some 3,500 new jobs. German and American investors were the other top job creators last year.

A sectoral breakdown shows that the electronics sector, including battery manufacturing, topped the charts: it represented over the half (51.9%) of the investment volume. The second and third most foreign capital volume gravitated towards automotive (12.5%) and food (11.1%), respectively. Moreover, agreements were made with 19 companies in the area of high value-added service activities, including business services, infocommunication and R&D which holds the promise of well-paid jobs for skilled labor on a mass scale. Another pleasant fact is that investments followed the path of balanced geographic distribution: at least two new large projects were brought to every county, except for a single one.

When it comes to successful investments it is key to select an appropriate site and have a strong supplier network. Therefore, two award categories, namely „Industrial Park of the Year” and „Supplier of the Year”, expressly recognize the significance of these factors and credit the best performing stakeholders.

Award winners of the HIPA Investor of the Year 2021 Award Ceremony

Largest Greenfield Investment of the Year

SK On Hungary

One of the world’s leading battery manufacturers, Korean SK On decided to carry out the largest single greenfield FDI project of all time in Hungary. The EUR 1.9 billion investment in Iváncsa will be their third site in the country in addition to their two other plants in Komárom. The new production base will have annual capacity of 30 GWh and create 2,500 new jobs. The project enables the manufacturing of 430,000 e-cars per year. The facility of 80 hectares is also going to contribute to the fact that automotive battery production capacities of SK On are soon to be multiplied which further strengthens Hungary’s role in e-mobility.

Business Expansion of the Year

Becton Dickinson Hungary

Thanks to a EUR 188 million investment of Becton Dickinson (BD), one of the world’s leading medical technology companies, the production of pre-filled glass syringes can be doubled in its Tatabánya plant. The project, which will create more than 300 new jobs, will result in three new production lines that are expected to be operational by the end of 2024. With a presence in 190 countries, BD opened its pre-filled glass syringe manufacturing plant in Hungary in 2009 and has been continuously developing ever since. Having a history of 125 years, the US company will invest USD 1.2 billion globally in the coming years to improve and expand its manufacturing technology, and the Tatabánya project represents nearly one-fifth of that development program.

Business Services Centre Investment of the Year

EY Global Delivery Services Hungary

London-based EY is a Big 4 company, one of the four leading auditing and business consulting firms in the world with more than 700 offices in over 150 countries worldwide, among them in Hungary. EY Global Delivery Services is establishing a new global service center in Budapest where tax consultancy-related services will be in focus. The Budapest center of EY GDS will primarily support EY companies operating in EMEIA countries in the global region of Europe, the Middle-East and Africa. By the end of 2024, the company is planning to hire 500 employees to the new facility, in connection with which it will implement a training program of over EUR 2 million.

R&D Investment of the Year

Ericsson Magyarország

Having been operating in Hungary for over thirty years, Swedish Ericsson set up its first research and development division in this country in 1991. Ericsson Hungary announced its latest R&D project worth close to EUR 8.4 million in 2021 thanks to which the next generation of IMS for cloud-based IP Multimedia Subsystems will be developed in its Budapest headquarters. IMS controls and facilitates modern voice, video and conference calls and messaging in IP-based packet-switched communications networks. The investment to be realized by September 2022 will create 200 jobs requiring a higher education diploma.

Industrial Park of the Year

Debrecen, Southern Economic Zone

Being in the spotlight of rising investor interest, the city of Debrecen invites investors to settle in four industrial parks on 1,400 hectares out of which the biggest one is the Southern Economic Zone of 710 hectares. The companies that have set up shop since 2016 in the industrial park located in the Southern part of Debrecen have announced foreign direct investments worth nearly EUR 1,300 million creating some 3,200 jobs. Among the top results of 2021 are the groundbreaking of SemCorp Group’s first separator foil plant outside of China in value of EUR 183 million and the announcement of Vitesco Technology regarding its EUR 120 million expansion. Based on all these developments, in its own category Debrecen deservedly made the TOP 10 of global cities with the best investment promotion potential in 2021 in the ranking of fDi Intelligence, a division of the Financial Times.

Supplier of the Year

Cascade Engineering Europe

Cascade Engineering Europe, a company in American ownership under Hungarian management, operates in Halásztelek and carries out molding activities primarily for automotive. The corporation employing 400 staff serves its clientele with a full range of services from design to assembly. By now Cascade products are used in vehicles of every OEM, with Volkswagen-Audi Group, BMW or Daimler being among the major customers. The company was able to grow even during the pandemic not least because it managed to align its profile to the needs of electromobility among others by manufacturing heating and cooling battery line components as well as special plastic components for battery modules.