LJUBLJANA, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Slovenian environment agency has issued a building permit to auto part manufacturer Magna Steyr to build a paint factory in Slovenia, the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) reported on Thursday.
Magna Steyr is the Austrian subsidiary of Magna International, the Canadian global auto part manufacturer. It will build the planned facility in the city of Hoce-Slivnica in northeastern Slovenia.
Construction works for the first phase of the project are expected to be completed by the end of October 2019 by a Slovenian contractor.
The value of the first stage of the project, which is expected to create slightly more than 400 jobs, is estimated at 146.4 million euros (171.4 million U.S. dollars).
Another 1,500 jobs are expected in the second phase, which means that the criterion of creating at least 1,000 jobs would be met -- a condition for incentives for strategic investments.
The combined investment of the first two phases is estimated at over 450 million euros, with two more phases envisaged provided there is enough demand on the market.
The goal is to set up a comprehensive auto facility in the vicinity of Maribor airport that would supplement Magna Steyr's location near Graz, in southern Austria.
