THE EUROPEAN Commission announced on July 2 that it will allow Slovakia to provide state aid of €65 million to help the South Korean electronics group Samsung to build a plant making LCD screens in Voderady, western Slovakia. Samsung will invest over €320 million in the construction of the plant that should employ 1,200. Another 3,700 jobs are expected to be created in supplier companies, the ČTK newswire wrote.
Samsung began construction last year, with completion expected by 2011. The state aid will come in the form of direct subsidies as well as tax relief.
According to Neelie Kroes, European Commissioner for Competition, the Samsung project will strengthen the competitiveness not just of Slovakia but all of Europe in the fast-developing consumer electronics industry, which to date has been concentrated in south-east Asia.
Samsung selected Voderady because of its proximity to two other electronics operations. Samsung operates a plant
in Galanta, only 50 km from Voderady, and also supplies materials to Sony, which makes LCD TVs in nearby Nitra.
