“There are several common points between the State of Indiana and Hungary”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Parliamentary State Secretary, László Szabó said on Tuesday in Budapest at the Hungary-Indiana business forum, after which he told the press that there are already several investors from Indiana present in Hungary and he hopes bilateral trade flow will be successfully increased several fold in future.

At the event organised by the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA), the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade said with relation to similarities that both parties occupy a central position, are of similar size, and the pharmaceutical industry plays an important role in the economies of both Hungary and the State of Indiana.

Governor of Indiana Eric Holcomb said the Midwestern state had progressed in several areas in recent years, and went on to highlight that corporation tax would be decreasing to 4.9 percent, while personal income tax would be cut to 3.2 percent. Indiana has done away with property tax and inheritance tax, amongst others. The State has an AAA credit rating and cash reserves of over 2 billion dollars, which is 12 percent of the two-year budget, he told reporters.

The United States is Hungary’s number one foreign trade partner outside the European Union, and Hungarian exports to the Unites States reached 3.5 billion dollars last year, while U.S. imports to Hungary reached 2 billion dollars, he said, highlighting the fact that Hungary has the lowest rate of corporation tax in the European Union at 9 percent, which further improves the business environment.

Indiana’s Secretary of Commerce Jim Schellinger highlighted the fact that international companies invested 6 billion dollars in Indiana in 2012-2015, creating over 20 thousand new jobs. He told the press that there are 400 European enterprises operating in the State, employing 96 thousand people. According to Mr. Schellinger, Indiana offers attractive business opportunities primarily within the fields of IT, agriculture and life sciences.

Vice President of the HIPA Tünde Kis reported on Hungarian business opportunities, explaining that the most important sectors of industry are the automotive industry, service centres, the food industry, logistics and Infocommunications. With relation to projects managed by the HIPA, U.S. investors created the second highest number of new jobs, she added.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)