Production in the future will be based on digitalized production processes, which require special innovative solutions and rapid responses from economic stakeholders, Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga said at a panel discussion held at a regional digital economy summit in Budapest. The region’s competitiveness could be bolstered by tighter cooperation in the field of regulation and infrastructure concerning autonomous cars as well as in the broadening of car developer and supplier networks, the Minister stated.

Participants of the panel discussion – Minister Varga, Deputy PM Jaroslaw Gowin of Poland, Minister of Transport Dan Tok of the Czech Republic, Ministers of State for Transport Norbert Barthle of Germany and Viktor Stromček of Slovakia – agreed that this region has already become Europe’s growth engine, therefore cooperation in the development of digital economies may be especially rewarding.

Thinking and working together, Minister Varga added, may lead to long-term, sustainable comparative advantages for our countries in the global competition. Mihály Varga has called for joint action by the Visegrad Four to make Brussels respond quicker to ever-faster economic and technological changes.

Digital transformation has not taken Hungary by surprise, Mihály Varga stressed. The Government has launched a re-industrialization programme, the Irinyi Plan.  Our main aim is to maintain and even increase momentum behind industrial output growth, he said.  Switching to an innovation-driven economy, industrial development and the support of this development process are crucial tasks for the Government, as boosting R&D, innovation and productivity are the key drivers of economic growth. Although this transformation will bring obvious advantages for production, it will also create challenges, for example restructure the labour market, he noted.

Countries of the Visegrad Four must utilize opportunities provided by the fourth industrial revolution in the most optimal way possible in their bid to close the economic gap with other countries, Jaroslaw Gowin pointed out. National programmes and regional partnerships can also underpin digitalization-driven competitiveness, he added.

As the first step in this direction, Mihály Varga has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with representatives of the Ministries of Transport of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland on coordinating the elaboration of traffic regulations with regard to autonomous and connected cars and the conditions of cross-border digital infrastructure.

(Ministry for National Economy)