The Székesfehérvár division of IBM Data Storage Systems has increased the number of its employees by 180 after having been awarded 370 million HUF for expanding capacity from the 1.5 billion forints available through the New Széchenyi Plan.

At the closing ceremony of the project, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations of the Prime Minister’s Office Péter Szijjártó stressed that job creation constituted the cornerstone of the Hungarian government’s economic policy. He recalled that in 2010, only around 2 million people paid taxes in Hungary but this situation has changed and employment levels have reached the pre-crisis level. The government would like to continue with this policy as this is the only way to tackle the European crisis.

"We consider companies creating jobs in Hungary as strategic partners. We would like to sign agreements with them, as we are also doing with IBM", said the State Secretary.

"We are pursuing a new international economic strategy aimed at increasing export and foreign investments in our country. Our work is successful: the National Foreign Economic Office is currently holding negotiations on 84 investments, meaning the creation of 17 thousand new workplaces. We receive 4-5 requests regarding foreign investment each week’" reported the government's foreign affairs representative.

Mark Taylor, the chief director of IBM’s European services division said that the Székesfehérvár division offers world-class services in a cost-effective way.

(Prime Minister’s Office)