ITDH – Networking is Our Job
ITDH – Networking is Our Job
Investment and Trade Development Hungary (ITDH) is a non-profit organization, a consulting service provider with a wide range of expertise. ITDH’s line of business is the encouragement of investment and trade development. It operates a network of offices both in Hungary and abroad, and has a large information database. ITDH’s 36 offices operating in 33 countries and its 9 regional offices in Hungary work closely together with the headquarters in Budapest, providing services to both foreign and Hungarian clients.
The promotion of investment and trade development means that ITDH explores investment-related opportunities for foreign businesses in conjunction with the direct or indirect presence of Hungarian companies on the foreign markets and also the facilitation of cross-border investments, as well as providing mediation services. Thus, for example, ITDH organizes exhibitions for the presentation of the customers’ products, and manages sectoral product-marketing programs. With its suppliers’ programs ITDH assists domestic small-to-medium-sized enterprises. Its competent branches provide information to the customers on legal, customs, and financial issues, and on the corporate, regional, and project databases. ITDH is also responsible for organizing and conducting communication campaigns both in Hungary and abroad, concerning on-line communication, the publication and distribution of information booklets, business, and trade manuals in Hungarian and in foreign languages.
Such extremely complex professional work is done by the highly qualified and experienced members of ITDH’s staff, who are fluent in foreign languages. Their success is proven by ITDH’s ever growing annual accomplishments, and by the successful implementation of the varied program designed for this purpose.
In 1999, for example, ITDH conducted 280 targeted professional programs (conferences on investment, business meetings, targeted partner searches, trade development seminars, exhibitions, etc.) In connection with the above, the following are unambiguously tied to ITDH: in 1999, with the contribution of ITDH, working capital investment programs worth USD 560 million were implemented, which – in addition to their effect on industrial modernization and on the promotion of export sales – entailed the creation of some 9,000 new jobs.
In 2000, ITDH conducted some 350 professional events, one third of which took place in Hungary. As for the decisions on foreign working capital investment, the total value of these in 2000 is certain to exceed that of the previous year. (As late as in December 2000, the officials of ITDH were still expecting the announcement of production-related foreign investment of extremely high value, therefore these figures are by no means final.)
A few interesting examples of investment references:
On 18 January 2000, it was announced at the headquarters office of ITDH that the US-based Jabil Circuit, one of the five largest electronic system designers and PCB (printed circuitry board) manufacturers in the world, was launching a green-field investment project at the Tiszaújváros industrial park, in East Hungary. A plant employing some 2,000 workers has been erected since then, where Jabil Circuit manufactures PCBs.
Artesyn Technologies of Florida, USA, whose subsidiary has been operating in Tatabánya, Hungary for years, announced at a press conference held at the ITDH head office in March 2000, that they intend to build another production plant with an area of 11,000 square meters next to the existing plant, in which they intend to manufacture inductive components for telecommunications equipment and DC and AC power supply units, hiring another 600 employees.
It was also via ITDH that Samsung Electro-Mechanics (SEMCO) of South Korea chose Szigetszentmiklós, a village 25 km from the Hungarian capital, as the site of its USD 21 million green-field investment project. Production is due to start in 2001 at an electronic assembly plant that will be completed in 2000.
Initially, the SEMCO’s Hungarian plant will hire 550 employees, but with a further growth in production capabilities 1,100 employees will be hired in 2003, and yet another 1,300 in 2005.
Flextronics International of Singapore opened up its first plant in Tab, Hungary in 1993, where PCBs are assembled. The first plant was succeeded by a second investment project in Zalaegerszeg in 1995, then the Sárvár project, now within FI’s own industrial park in 1997. In 1999, the opening of a second plant and industrial site in Zalaegerszeg followed. In June 2000, again in FI’s own industrial park in Nyíregyháza, in the east of Hungary, the production of PCBs and other electronic components began at the company’s new, 18 000 sq. m. facility. (And the Flextronics story also started with ITDH!)
For further information and data on ITDH’s activities, please visit the company’s homepage (www.itd.hu), where information is updated on a daily basis.
Magyar Befektetési és Kereskedelemfejlesztési Kht.
(Investment and Trade Development Hungary) ITDH
