The Slovak Republic signed an investment memorandum with Samsung Electronic LCD in Bratislava on March 13.
Prime Minister Robert Fico announced at a news conference held after the signing that the South Korean firm would invest €320 million (about Sk11 billion) in the new plant, which will produce LCD flat panels in Voderady near Trnava.
The investment will create 1,200 direct jobs.
Economy Minister Ľubomír Jahnátek said that the government would support this investment with a package of incentives amounting to 21.9 percent of the total investment, which is about Sk2.2 billion. The government will thus provide approximately Sk2 million per job created. In addition, the government allocated Sk1.6 billion from its budget for necessary infrastructure, which falls under regional assistance.
The South Korean investor is to launch production of LCD modules next March, and the plant should be running at full capacity by 2012. Samsung will produce ten million LCD modules annually at the new plant and its turnover should be about Sk80 billion.
The South Korean investor pledged in the memorandum that the average wage in the new plant would be Sk25,500.
Samsung already has a plant in Slovakia, in the western town of Galanta, which is the company's biggest plant for the production of TV sets with LCD monitors in Europe. It invested €131.4 million in Slovakia between 2002 and 2006 and has employed more than 3,000 people.
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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