In November 2015, the volume of industrial output grew by 9.5 percent year-on-year, while in the initial eleven months of the year the sector accumulated output growth of 7.3 percent. One can conclude that the sector has closed the year 2015 with dynamic expansion, Minister of State for Economic Development and Regulation István Lepsényi said at a press conference.
The positive trend has been in place for the 27th consecutive month and it has been contributing – besides export growth – to the creation of new jobs and new investment projects, he pointed out.
Output increase in November was mainly driven by the motor vehicle and rubber product manufacturing as well as by electronic and metal product manufacturing sectors. In the opinion of the Minister of State, data from the past years show that Hungarian reforms have been working.
István Lepsényi reiterated that the Government aims to increase the industrial output-to-GDP ratio to 30 percent, and thus turn Hungary into one of the most highly industrialized countries of the EU. The recently launched economic stimulus programme also aims to achieve this goal. Under the programme, in 2014-2020 60 percent of EU development funding will be disbursed for economic development projects – this indicator was only 16 percent in 2007-2013.
The Government places special emphasis on boosting industrial development and production capacities, accelerating the disbursement of funding, stimulating lending, creating a flexible labour market and facilitating the construction of homes, the Minister of State said. It is also among objectives to help SMEs join supplier chains of large companies as competitively as possible and gain foothold on international markets.
Speaking of calls for tenders, István Lepsényi said that the Government has allocated some HUF 117bn for 1799 tender applicants and thus enterprises can implement development projects valued at HUF 239bn.
As the Minister of State stressed, the re-industrialization drive requires the assistance of development projects of large enterprises which significantly contribute to the expansion of the Hungarian economy – and, within that, to the manufacturing sector – as well as to employment growth.
In December, the Government concluded agreements with fourteen domestic large enterprises on supporting the realization of large-scale investment projects. According to the contracts, these companies will receive some HUF 3bn of grants from the state budget. These projects are expected to create some 500 new jobs. In 2016, HUF 16bn is allocated for the same purpose.
(Ministry for National Economy)
