The Japanese robotics company Yaskawa has laid the foundation stone for two new facilities next to its existing robots plant in Kočevje, south Slovenia, in an investment valued at €32 million.

Yaskawa, which also operates two plants in Ribnica nearby, will build a European robot distribution centre and a new modern facility for the engineering and production of robotic systems in Kočevje by 2025.

The investment will see the company expand its activity in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Yaskawa Europe Robotics director Hubert Kosler said at the ceremony on 24 April.

Until now, the company had to send the robots and controllers produced in Kočevje to warehouses in Germany and Sweden for further distribution.

The new distribution centre will allow them to distribute their products, including those imported from Japan, directly to end customers in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

The new facility for engineering and manufacturing of robotic systems will help Yaskawa expand the programme currently performed in Ribnica, where they are producing robots for different technological processes and technologies.

Yaskawa currently employs around 270 people in Slovenia, which is expected to increase to around 300 after the investment is completed.

The foundation stone-laying ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Robert Golob, Economy Minister Matjaž Han and Japan's Ambassador to Slovenia Akiko Yoshida.

Japan is Slovenia's most important Asian partner, said Golob, adding that cooperation has been increasing in the last years. He hopes for more cooperation in the future.

Han was pleased that investors see Slovenia as a country worth investing in, which he believes is owing to the country's workforce, skilled and willing to work.

"Today's event is bigger than the Kočevje municipality, it is important for the country as a whole," Mayor Vladimir Prebilič said. "I believe that Yaskawa will increase its production with the new capabilities to the point that all robots, ordered by customers in Europe, will be ordered in Kočevje," he added.

Yaskawa is a global leading supplier of robotics and control technology solutions. It has three companies in Slovenia, the Yaskawa Europe Robotics in Kočevje, Yaskava Ristro for turn-key robotics solutions and Yaskava Slovenija for engineering in the Ribnica area.