“Austrian companies like Hungary, and not just because of its geographical proximity, but also as a result of the investor-friendly environment”, Parliamentary State Secretary László Szabó from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade told Hungarian news agency MTI following a business forum at the Hungarian Embassy in Vienna.

The Deputy Minister told reporters: “In 2014, investments by Austrian enterprises in Hungary totalled eight billion euros, and by last year this figure had risen to over 12 billion euros”. “Austria has always been one of the largest investors in Hungary; Austrian investments are the third highest after German and Dutch capital”, he said.

Mr. Szabó stressed: The rate of investment is clearly increasing, despite the fact that there have been political scuffles between the two countries, but in his opinion this had not caused damage to the development of investment projects.

“The measures introduced to regulate the Hungarian economy were forward-looking and have led to a significant whitening of the economy”, he said, citing as an example the introduction of the Electronic Trade and Transport Control System (EKÁER), which according to the Deputy Minister has made the presence of enterprises in Hungary simpler, more transparent and more predictable.

Mr. Szabó also mentioned that in 2010 the rate of unemployment in Hungary was almost 12 percent, but has now fallen to just 4.9 percent, meaning the greatest current challenge could be finding suitable trained staff for the large number of open job opportunities.

The Parliamentary State Secretary also spoke about the improvement in the dialogue between industry and education, highlighting the fact that the service sector and industry can now employ students efficiently, while the Government is supporting sought-after courses.

During his speech at the Embassy, Mr. Szabó said: “There are more than two thousand Austrian companies operating in Hungary, which employ 70 thousand people”.

Earlier, the Deputy Minister held talks with officials from the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and representatives of Austrian companies with investments in Hungary, with regard to which Mr. Szabó told reporters: “We held open and honest economic talks and received more positive feedback compared to previous years”.

During the event at the Hungarian Embassy in Vienna, the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency held a presentation, the Director of the Austrian Marzek Group spoke about his experiences with relation to investing in Hungary, and solicitor Tibor Gálffy gave a lecture on Hungarian company incorporation practices.

(MTI)