The Government of Hungary is preparing for a more balanced and efficient political cooperation with the United States, based on mutual trust and respect, Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga said at a recent business forum organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hungary (AmCham).
Our economic and trade relations with the United States have traditionally been excellent, and we hope that this will soon be true of our political relations as well, the Minister stressed.
Regarding the Hungarian economy, this year and next are expected to be periods of robust economic growth. The Government is focusing on creating conditions that enable American enterprises operating in Hungary to optimize opportunities.
Analysing favourable economic trends, Mihály Varga pointed out that the Government has laid down the foundations for future development through the work done in recent years, and thanks to that economic growth may be dynamic, around 4 percent per year, in coming years. Among the country’s economic achievements the Minister mentioned the record-high employment rate, the lowest unemployment rate since the regime change, the best fiscal balance in 17 years, the falling government debt ratio and rising household consumption. Mihály Varga also highlighted the fact that housing trends have turned positive: the number of building permits has increased two-and-a-half times in 2016, compared to 2015. Favourable trends also show in the number of residential units completed: last year, there were 9994 newly built homes, up by 31 percent year-on-year, the Minister noted.
The United State is the second largest investor in Hungary, and our number one export partner outside the EU, he added. There are more than 1700 Hungarian subsidiaries of US enterprises, which have invested some USD 18bn in the country and employ more than 90 thousand Hungarians. Forty out of the top fifty US corporations are active in Hungary, mainly through investment projects implemented by one of their Western European subsidiaries.
(Ministry for National Economy)
