Another car parts factory for Timisoara

Tunisia-based Coficab is to invest 25 million euros over the next three years in an automotive wiring factory, the Romanian Agency for Foreign Investment (ARIS) announced. The factory will be located in Timisoara, the city on the river Bega being by far the favourite destination of investors in the automotive component industry.

“The automotive component industry has thus far been one of the most active industries in Romania in terms of investments and everything points to this trend continuing in the future,” ARIS chairman Alexandru Popa told Ziarul Financiar.

The bulk of investment in automotive component factories has been in Western Romania, with most investors choosing Timisoara. This city has attracted hundreds of millions of euros in investments in this industry.

The decision to invest was made at the end of last week, after a location-scouting visit to the Western region of Romania by officials from Coficab, a company with an annual turnover of 100 million euros, and by ARIS representatives.

Construction work on the new plant should begin next year, ARIS says. Investment in the first phase of the project will be worth 15 million euros.

Investments scheduled for 2006 and 2007 will be worth 5 million euros a year. Coficab officials say the factory will have 14,000 sqm, which is comparable to the Coficab factory in Portugal.
ionut.bonoiu@zf.ro