MB Telecom plans EUR 5 million expansion in Switzerland

MB Telecom, a Romanian producer of hi-tech security equipment, is looking to expand its production capacity in Switzerland, as the company is venturing onto international markets to sell sophisticated technology.

Mircea Tudor, president of MB Telecom, says the new plant will require an investment of CHF 6 million (EUR 5 million) and will help double the production of a new airplane scanner. At present, it has a yearly production capacity of 30 cargo scanners at its plant in Otopeni.

“Switzerland offers conditions and attractiveness which are staggering for investors. Cantonal profit tax stands at 8 percent, which can be negotiated. I obtained five years at a 0 rate and five more years at 5 percent instead of 8, adding to the 4 percent federal profit tax,” Tudor told BR.

“The real estate tax for industrial properties stands at 0.5 percent and 0.15 percent for the special constructions tax. There are good subsidies from the cantons and from the federal level for research programs, and the development of top technologies,” he added.

The company’s focus has remained on innovation, with around half of its 130 people working directly or indirectly in research & development (R&D). This strategy seems to have paid off. In 2009, MB Telecom won the grand prize at the International Exhibition of Inventions in Geneva for a high-performance cargo screening system called Roboscan 1MC.

According to Tudor, sales of this product exceeded EUR 20 million. This year, the company won the grand prize again in Geneva for a new aircraft screening system called Roboscan 2M Aeria.

The Romanian firm is the first company in history to have claimed the grand prize in Geneva twice. MB Telecom has implemented a series of European projects securing the country’s eastern border, which is also the EU’s border, backed by the EU. The new aircraft scanner can be used by airport administrations at border controls as it is able to detect smuggled drugs, explosives, radioactive substances and large amounts of cash.