May 25 (SeeNews) - German automotive parts supplier Continental said on Wednesday it plans to invest 12 million euro ($13.4 million) to expand its electronic components plant in Timisoara county, in western Romania.
The expansion project will add 7,000 sq m to the plant's total area, which will reach 21,000 sq m upon the completion of the works due by the end of the year, Continental said in a press release.
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The project aims to make the plant better equipped to meet coming orders, general manager Francisco Xavier Pujol said, as quoted in the press release.
At the end of March, Continental said it plans to hire over 1,000 people in Romania by the end of the year, mostly university graduates and engineers with expertise in the automotive industry and software.
Continental currently has 16,500 employees in Romania, of whom 1,500 were hired in 2015.
Last year, the company invested some 130 million euro ($145 million) in Romania - in technology upgrades, new buildings and software.
Continental is present in Romania with all five divisions of the group and owns seven production units and three research and development centres in Timisoara, Sibiu, Carei, Nadab, Brasov and Iasi. Continental is also a partner in a joint venture in Slatina and has a tire distribution centre for Eastern Europe at Sacalaz, in Timis County.
In November it completed a project worth 10.5 million euro for the installation of an olfactory emissions treatment system in its tire plant.
Continental Tires Timisoara is the company's first and largest investment in Romania. Since 1998, when the plant was set up as a greenfield investment, it has absorbed over 370 million euro in investments and has produced more than 165 million tires.
The company estimates that it has invested 1.13 billion euro in Romania so far.
($=0.8942 euro)