Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Wednesday said German autoparts maker Continental Automotive would become the largest foreign contributor to Serbia's GDP and account for over 2 pct of GDP.
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At a ceremony marking the completion of the first stage of works to build a second Continental plant in the country in Kac, northern Serbia, Vucic said the factory would mean much for economic development of nearby Novi Sad, the Vojvodina province and the entire country.
"This will be the largest and the most significant factory in Serbia and Serbia's biggest exporter," Vucic said during a tour of the factory, adding that it would be completed in less than a year.
He said the plant would hire 700 people but that the value to be generated by it was more important as it would, for instance, manufacture displays for electric cars.
Vucic said he had asked Continental representatives to open another factory in Nis and that a decision to do so could be made within a year, resulting in a huge success and a "quantum leap" for entire Serbia.
"Novi Sad will have enormous benefits and much more budget funds, because if they (Continental) reach the 1 bln euro mark, that is 2 pct of GDP, and if they reach 2 bln, as I expect, then their contribution to the Serbian GDP will be twice as large," Vucic said.
He said the second Continental factory would start operating as early as September 2022 but that it would need several years to reach full production capacity.
The works on the factory began in June and are due to be completed by September 2022.
With over 30,000 sq m of production and office space, it will be one of the largest Continental plants in the world.
The first Continental Automotive Serbia plant, situated in the Novi Sad North 4 industrial zone, opened in March and has already begun producing advanced and complex electronic systems for the automotive industry. ■
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