“Hungarian communities must gain strength where they reside, and economic development stops assimilation as well as reinforcing bilateral relations”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó stressed in Zombor (Sombor, Serbia) on Tuesday, where he opened the signing ceremony for contracts concluded within the framework of the Vojvodina Economic Development Programme.

“The Vojvodina Economic Development Programme could not have come about without a Hungarian Government that views cross-border Hungarians as a resource, and not a burden”, the Minister added.

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Mr. Szijjártó he though it was shameful that in the Hungarian parliamentary election campaign there are parties that are sending the message that they are not counting on cross-border Hungarians on giant billboards. “We care about your opinion and would like you to tell us what kind of future you want for Hungary”, Mr. Szijjártó said, adding that the current Government would like the new National Assembly to express the political will of the whole Hungarian nation, and that can only be realised if, in addition to the votes of people living in Hungary, it also includes the votes of cross-border Hungarians. He called on as many Vojvodina Hungarians as possible to take part in the 8 April elections.

“The Vojvodina Economic Development Programme could not have come about without a Serbian government and head of state that support this programme”, Mr. Szijjártó continued. “The Serbian leadership made unparalleled gestures and made tangible decisions in the interests of enabling the historically difficult period between Serbia and Hungary become a period of historic successes”, he explained. “There is absolutely no overstatement in claiming that bilateral relations between Hungary and Serbia have never been as good as they are now”, and it is from this excellent relationship that the Vojvodina Economic Development Programme emerged, he said.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade pointed out that economic development programmes have also been launched in other cross-border areas, but the Vojvodina programme is the most advanced and the most successful to date. He highlighted the fact that the programme had succeeded in reaching every Hungarian settlement in Vojvodina and was also able to contribute to the development of Serbia’s economy. With relation to the figures he pointed out that, not including the tender agreements concluded during Tuesday’s ceremony, contracts relating to a total of 22.2 billion forints (EUR 71 million) in funding had been signed so far, thanks to which 45 billion forints (EUR 143 million) in investment have been realised. Agreements have been concluded with a total of 6488 small businesses and 23 large corporations.

On Tuesday, funding contracts were signed with medium-sized enterprises who have each successfully won tenders for 15-150 million forints (EUR 48,000-480,000) in funding. The 197 successful tenders are leading to the realisation of 4.2 billion forints (EUR 13.4M) in funding and 12 billion forints (EUR 38M) in investment. The majority of enterprises applied for funding to purchase high performance agricultural equipment and to increase their farm animal stocks. “These are investments that are sustainable in the long term, and which reinforce the Hungarian national community in the long term”, the Minister said.

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Mr. Szijjártó explained that Hungary has come a long way in recent years, from being part of the problem in Europe to becoming part of the solution.  “Hungary is a strong country and is part of the region that is the engine of European growth; it is breaking employment records and is performing above Europe’s economic average”, he said, adding that the Government would like the strength of the home country to also be felt in cross-border areas, and the economic development programme is the bridge through which cross-border Hungarians can also gain strength.

In Vojvodina, the Hungarian Government is realising its economic development programme in cooperation with the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians. Alliance president István Pásztor pointed out that the programme in not only about economic development, but also about community development, the goal of which is to enable the Hungarian community in Vojvodina to gain strength.

This is the highest level of financial support received by this community in living memory, and the large number of successful tenders prove that the Hungarian community in Vojvodina includes entrepreneurs who want to be successful in the land of their birth and who have their own ideas with relation to how to achieve this, and the tenders corresponded to the plans of these businesspeople.

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The Hungarian Government originally earmarked a budget of 50 billion forints (EUR 160 million) for the Vojvodina Economic Development Programme, but the budget was later increased, and accordingly the total level of loans and non-returnable funding now stands at 75 billion forints (EUR 240 million). The programme, which is running from 2016 to 2018, places the greatest emphasis on agriculture and tourism, and on developing small and medium-sized enterprises, the goal being to stop the emigration of young people and to reverse this process.

(MTI)