The Government granted a support of HUF 1.46 billion by individual decision for the construction of the new slaughterhouse of the Bonafarm Group in Mohács, a project with a total budget of HUF 7.3 billion, Péter Szijjártó, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade told journalists on Friday in Budapest.
He added that it is particularly important to develop the Hungarian pork sector in order to establish an export product base in the Hungarian food industry, because the lack of development in case of the slaughterhouses resulted in declining competitiveness of the sector. The decline in the number of pigs poses a significant challenge for the sector, that’s why the government adopted a swine strategy in 2012, he added.
Mr Szijjártó explained that according to this strategy, the pig stock of 3 million would be doubled by 2020, thereby creating about 20,000 new jobs as well for the Hungarian economy.
The investment announced today, which will be implemented by Mcs Vágóhíd Kft, a member of the Bonafarm Group, will contribute to the development of the entire Hungarian swine sector and the growth of the Hungarian food export, emphasized Mr Szijjártó.
The State Secretary said that the first phase of the new slaughterhouse and deboning plant project of the Bonafarm Group will be completed by the end of 2016, which will include a technological process from slaughtering to refrigerating halved pigs. The subsequent phases involve deboning, processing and waste water treatment; these technological processes may be implemented in the second and third phases. The investor will decide whether the project will be continued based on the results of the first phase of the project, he said.
Mr Szijjártó reminded that Hungary has an open economy, so its performance is strongly influenced by the level of exports. Hungarian exports account for over 83 percent of the GDP. Last year, after recording a growth of 6 percent, total Hungarian exports exceeded USD 108 billion. It is extremely important for the growth of the Hungarian economy to continuously expand our exports, he explained.
The State Secretary said that those markets where competition is based on quality rather than quantity are especially important for our export growth. Furthermore, the markets where high added value is appreciated or constant innovation is expected are also important for us. Therefore, the key sectors of the Hungarian economy with regard to export growth – especially to the East – are engineering and IT services, water management services and food industry products. The “flagship” will be the food industry, focusing on the Eastern regions.
According to his assessment there is a sharp growth on the Eastern markets, which will benefit Hungarian companies, since the improvement of living standards will alter consumer behaviours and will increase the demand for quality products. The competitiveness of the Hungarian food industry is increased by the fact that the country is GMO-free, as well as our strict food safety regulations. He also mentioned that the products of the Hungarian food industry – such as frozen pig, duck and goose meat – may gain access to the Chinese market in the near future.
Gergely Pókos, deputy general manager of Mcs Vágóhíd Kft. mentioned, among others, that the Bonafarm Group works together with more than 100 small- and medium-sized pig-raising partners and processes 350,000 pigs per year. Once the new plant will be completed, its processing capacity will be one million pigs per year. The new plant will employ 350 people.
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)
