“The renewal of the innovation system is moving in the right direction, in view of the fact that while Hungary only spent 1.35 percent of GDP on research and development (R&D) in 2017, last year it spent 1.53 percent of GDP, 654 billion forints (EUR 1.99 billion) on R&D, and next year this ratio is expected to reach the target of 1.8 percent”, State Secretary József Bódis from the Ministry for Innovation and Technology said at a press conference in Budapest on Monday.

“The successful functioning of the system is also indicated by the fact that the number of researchers working in Hungary exceeded 66 thousand last year”, the State Secretary added.

President of the National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NRDIO) Zoltán Birkner highlighted the fact that the success of the renewal of the innovation system is also proven by the fact that Hungarian-owned small and medium-sized enterprises have also appeared among the list of companies that are performing research & development.

Last year, the number of research and development places increased by 12 percent to 3500, of which 2000 belong to the private sector, and of these 7 percent were linked to large corporations, while the remainder were operated by small and medium sized businesses. Last year, enterprises spent 494 billion forints (EUR 1.5 billion) on R&D activities, with 53 percent of this sum used by large companies and 46 percent by SMEs, he told the press.

“The most important task of the government and the NRDIO is to reinforce the link between the market and university and state research institutes, to increase the role of enterprises in the financing of the research and development projects being realised in research institutes”, he stated.

The realisation of these goals will also be facilitated by the regular university ecosystem tenders recently launched by the Lóránt Eötvös research Network, the Zoltán Bay Research Institute and the NRDIO, he added.

Mr. Birkner noted that last year universities and state research institutes spent 83 billion forints (EUR 252 million) and 71 billion forints (EUR 216 million) respectively on research, development and innovation, and 5-6 percent of this expenditure was financed by the market, a ratio which the administration would like to at least double in the upcoming years.

According to a statement distributed by the NRDIO at the press conference, if research institutes and higher education institutes improve their relations with external partner, their research results will also be better applied on the market.

According to the statement, the total renewal of the research and innovation system is aimed at ensuring that “the ratio of R&D expenditure to GDP reaches at least 30 percent by 2030, and Hungary becomes a knowledge-based, balanced and sustainable economy and society that generates high added value”.

(MTI)