Having climbed nine places on the World Economic Forum (WEF) global competitiveness ranking, Hungary is now the 60th on the list, Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga announced on Wednesday.

This improvement shows that the progress that Hungary had achieved in terms of economic competitiveness have already  translated not only into economic statistics and positive feedback by international investors, institutions and credit rating agencies but also into surveys conducted among company managers.

Speaking of the findings of the survey, Mihály Varga stressed the scale of improvement was spectacular compared to the progress achieved during the past decade, and this was the largest year-on-year leap forward on the ranking, one of the most prestigious world-wide. Achievements have confirmed that the choice of the National Competitiveness Council, which was established last spring, concerning economic fields and reform proposals believed to be capable of substantially boosting the country’s competitiveness also in the short term,  had been right. The National Assembly has adopted several, Council-initiated regulatory amendments aiming to bolster the country’s competitiveness and optimize public administration services, Mihály Varga noted.

In his analysis of ranking details, the Minister underlined the fact that Hungary’s performance improved in eight out of the twelve examined fields. The largest improvement was registered in the pillar “Financial market development”, in which the country has advanced 25 places. In this change, the main drivers were the forint conversion of forex loans and EU-funded venture capital programmes, the Minister noted. The pillars “Innovation” and “Technological readiness” also showed that perceptions have improved: in these, the country gained 18 places and 14 places, respectively. It signals that the Government’s programmes aiming to boost R&D&I and develop supplier networks are bearing fruits. Substantial payroll tax cuts have also been instrumental in the country’s advancement of 9 places in the category “Labour market efficiency”, Mihály Varga pointed out.

Statistics which reflect economic performance have been improving steadily: since 2010, the number of people in employment has increased by more than 700 thousand; the government budget deficit has been reduced and the government debt-to-GDP ratio has also been falling. Besides the European Union, market participants and credit rating agencies, these achievements have been increasingly recognized by researchers and analysts.

The National Competitiveness Council keeps working: they continue to discuss competitiveness challenges, identify fields that require prompt action and formulate concrete pro-competitiveness measures, he said.

(Ministry for National Economy)