Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency: Best Strategic Investment Partner Europe 2022

Hungary is open for business — and actively courting foreign direct investments (FDI). The Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA) has been working with foreign investors to make full use of the country’s supportive business climate, competitive taxation environment and highly-skilled workforce. HIPA aims to be a one-stop-shop for foreign investors. It tailors incentives to each project and assists investors along every step of the way. Between 2014 and 2021, HIPA closed 1,822 deals worth nearly €30bn of FDI, which has created around 116,000 new jobs. The past year broke previous records, with FDI totalling €5.9bn across 422 projects and creating 13,883 new jobs. The projects comprised 326 COVID-specific projects and 96 large-scale projects, including the biggest greenfield FDI project launched up till 2021 in Hungary. The €1.9bn investment from South Korea’s SK Innovation will be used to build a battery plant employing 2,500 people. In July 2022, HIPA announced a €1bn investment from Mercedes-Benz to install assembly and body shop production lines. In August 2022, it announced a €7.3bn deal from Chinese company CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd) to break ground on an EV battery plant, which is expected to be Europe’s largest so far. According to Eurostat, nearly half of the total value added in the Hungarian business economy is generated by FDI. In 2021, Asian investors claimed 60 percent of the investment volume and German-speaking countries a third of the large-scale projects. The CFI.co judging panel presents HIPA with the 2022 award for Best Strategic Investment Partner (Europe).