Sang Wan Lee, president of Samsung Electronics' LCD division (left), Interior Minister Róbert Kaliňák, Economy Minister Ľubomír Jahnátek and Tibor Mikuš, chairman of the Trnava Regional government, took part in the new Samsung plant's ceremonial groundbreaking.
photo: ČTK
CONSTRUCTION on the new Samsung Electronics plant in Voderady, near Trnava, started on April 30.
The new plant will start producing LCD flat panels in March 2008, the SITA news wire wrote.
"We want to become number one on the European LCD flat panel market by 2012," Sang Wan Lee, the president of Samsung Electronics' LCD division, said at the ceremonial launch.
The plant is projected to produce one million LCD modules per month. Its annual turnover is expected to be around Sk80 billion (€2.4 billion). Construction is to be completed this December and the plant should be running at full capacity by 2012.
The South Korean company will invest €320 million over the next five years in the plant, which will cover an area of 63 hectares. The company will create 1,200 new jobs.
The investment is also expected to bring seven more companies to Slovakia, which will make a total foreign investment of about Sk10 billion (€300 million) and create an additional 4,500 jobs.
The government will support this investment with a package of incentives equalling about Sk2.2 billion (€65.7 million), specified as 21.9 percent of the total investment. The government would thus be contributing approximately Sk2 million (€60,000) for every job Samsung creates. The state funding would include contributions towards newly created jobs, tax benefits and direct financial assistance in acquiring tangible investment assets.
In addition, the government has allocated Sk1.6 billion (€47.8 million) from its budget for the necessary infrastructure, which falls under regional assistance.
According to the investment agreement signed between Samsung and the Slovak government this March, the average monthly wage in the new plant will be Sk25,500 (€761).
Samsung already operates a plant in Slovakia, in Galanta, which is the company's biggest LCD TV plant in Europe. It invested €131.4 million in Slovakia between 2002 and 2006 and created more than 3,000 jobs. Samsung was the fourth biggest exporter in Slovakia in the first half of 2006.
- Jana Liptáková
