Bucharest, March 26 /Rompres/ - Finnish phone maker Nokia will invest 60 million euros to set up a mobile phone plant in Cluj (center north-west) that will start producing at mid-2008 at the latest.

In presence of Premier Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, president of the Cluj County Council Marius Nicoara and Nokia vice-president Raimo Puntala on Monday signed the Memorandum of understanding for the establishment of an industrial park.

The Nokia vice-president said the company wants an industrial park to be established in Cluj and works at the new plant will kick off right this spring, so that the first cell phones be supplied at mid-2008 at the latest. For the beginning, Nokia will employ 500 persons, but at maturity the project will generate 15,000 new jobs, said Premier Tariceanu.

The Nokia representative voiced satisfaction for the completion of the Memorandum with the Romanian authorities, pointing out the support received from the Cluj County Council and the government of Romania.

The Nokia official underscored that the new facility in Cluj meets his company's need to expand its production capacity. Raimo Puntala added that Nokia has selected Cluj as location of the new plant due to the favorable position, the skilled workforce and the industrial tradition in the area.

Premier Tariceanu highlighted the project's importance for Romania, not only due to the high number of freshly generated jobs, but also because it is an investment in peak industry like informatics and telecoms. This project, said the Premier, adds to the Ericsson and Microsoft research and innovation centers and the Renault design center.

The head of the Executive said that such projects are notable due to the high value-added of the output and that the Cluj-based industrial park and the Nokia project will enhance the research and development capacity of the Cluj-Napoca University.

The future Tetarom III industrial park where the Nokia production line and research center will also be erected is 18 km far from the Cluj-Napoca city, in the locality of Jucu. The park will cover 159 hectares of which Nokia asked for 90.

The total investment is 200 million euros. In 2010, taxes levied on the wages of Nokia workers and employees of other companies involved in the project will be 59 million euros.