In January 2021, we will start the production of Hisense brand TV sets for the European market in Velenje in the Gorenje area, as part of the new Hisense Europe Electronic company. In the first phase, we will employ 330 production workers, and taking into account the professional staff, we will create around 400 jobs in the new factory by January. We will first offer the possibility of employment in the new TV set factory to employees from the production plants in Gorenje.
The Hisense Europe Electronic factory, which is being set up within the Gorenje production area in Velenje, in the former cooling appliances production hall, will produce two million televisions per year on 4 production lines in the first phase, and then, in line with market requirements, the capacity and number of lines in the next phases until 2023 will increase to the production capacity of almost 4 million TV sets per year.
The investment in technological equipment will be worth 7 million euros. In modern, automated production, we will initially offer employment to 330 production workers, and will first give the employees of Gorenje's home appliance factories the opportunity to re-employ in the new factory. Transfers of current Gorenje employees to the Hisense Europe Electronic plant will be replaced by new jobs at Gorenje.
We will also look for a part of the professional staff in the companies of the Hisense Europe Group, thus establishing a connecting link between Gorenje and the new factory, and in both cases other, external candidates will also get the opportunity for employment. The newly hired production workers will start training at the TV factory on December 15th.
The establishment of Hisense TV production will contribute not only to reducing local unemployment, but also to strengthening innovation, expanding production activities, sustainable development, and greater competitiveness and internationalization. The creation of a larger number of new jobs in the Savinjska-Šaleška region has additional weight in the light of the process of restructuring the coal mining region. An additional potential for the development of the region is the possibility of establishing a local supply network, which is especially important for small businesses.
One of Hisense's major strategies is to centralize production bases in Europe, which increases operational efficiency and consequently reduces costs. Hisense Group has chosen Slovenia as the center of its European business operations, which is also the headquarter of the European part of the group, and has chosen Velenje as its main production and development location.