Swiss-Malaysian electronics manufacturer ESCATEC is the latest investor in the City of Plovdiv. The investment is part of the company’s strategy for rapid expansion through nearshoring in Europe.
“We were impressed by the level of operations achieved by other factories already established in the area,” shared Charles-Alexandre Albin, ESCATEC’s Executive Director and Director of Strategic Development. According to him, Bulgaria, as an EU member-state, has the potential to benefit from the current wave of businesses investing in nearshoring production. This requires joint actions by all interested parties, incl. the state and the municipalities, so that Bulgaria can be presented in its best light to potential investors.
ESCATEC designs and manufactures electronics and electromechanical products for the manufacturing, medical and transport sectors. Initially, in Plovdiv, the company will produce mainly for the manufacturing sector, with plans for expansion in the medical and transport sectors, and eventual entry into the automotive one.
Located in the city itself, the new production facility will be ESCATEC’s ninth worldwide. The 4,000 m² facility is already operating with the necessary equipment, processes and skilled workforce to support ESCATEC’s production commitments in Europe. The company is ready to expand its production capacity in Plovdiv when the volume of orders increases.
Albin notes that ESCATEC Bulgaria can become the main production facility of the company in Europe. He singled out the local education, the strategic location and the established industrial ecosystem and industrial zones as leading factors in the company’s choice to invest in Plovdiv.
“We were encouraged by the strong industrial network in Plovdiv, which demonstrates that key stakeholders understand the needs of the sector. Bulgaria is a very promising country within Europe, with a very motivated and talented workforce, while Plovdiv specifically presented the most attractive region of all [in Bulgaria],” said the Executive Director. He also highlighted the constant support the company received from the Business Development Team at the Municipality of Plovdiv, in all stages of the investment intention.
“Welcome to ESCATEC. We have been negotiating with the company for nearly a year until they concluded their research and became convinced that Plovdiv is the best place for them. The tendency to attract high-tech productions will continue, and ESCATEC has every chance to organize large-scale production here in a few years,” said Stefan Stoyanov, Deputy Mayor of Plovdiv Municipality responsible for the Education, Business Development and European Policies.
ESCATEC’s customer base largely consists of major OEM brands based in Europe and North America. In addition to the new base in Plovdiv, the company operates a Design and Development (D&D) Center in Switzerland and has production bases in Malaysia, the Czech Republic, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
