THE TAIWANESE company AU Optronics Corporation is asking for investment incentives of almost €38.3 million from Slovakia. The firm intends to spend over €191.3 million on the construction of a new LCD module plant near the city of Trenčín within three years, the SITA newswire reported.
The Slovak cabinet endorsed the draft investment agreement with AU Optronics on December 2. According to the agreement, the investor will obtain nearly €32 million to procure long-term tangible assets while the rest represents stimuli in the form of tax relief.
As the required investment assistance exceeds the cap on the sum of aid that can be provided for in an investment plan under Slovakia's investment assistance law, further incentives for AU Optronics are subject to an individual notification duty to the European Commission, the draft suggests.
The cabinet has already approved refundable financial assistance of €5.8 million. This amount should cover the purchase of land on which to build the new plant.
The company is set to return these funds to the state by the end of the first quarter of 2010. The Finance Ministry will allocate €10 million in 2010 to support the Taiwanese investment.
The state should also provide an additional €32.7 million for regional development to the city of Trenčín.
The investment should directly and indirectly create about 3,000 jobs.
