“Hungarian enterprises will be realising eighteen billion forints (EUR 50.6 million) in investments in Serbia, towards which the Hungarian government is providing 8.5 billion forints (EUR 24 million) in funding, and both the Serbian and Hungarian economies will be gaining strength as a result”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced on Friday in Belgrade.

The Minister highlighted the fact that the investments in question will primarily be realised within the fields of agriculture and food processing, and in areas that require engineering know-how. “Enterprises that realise investments, build factories or launch production or processing activities in Serbia, and by doing so increase our export capacities, are eligible to receive funding from the Hungarian government’s 10-billion-forint (EUR 28 million) budget. Applications from 9 enterprises have been accepted to date”, he explained.

“By providing this funding, we are clearly also reinforcing the Serbian economy, which is in our interests in view of the fact that we live in close interdependence here, but at the same time we are also reinforcing the European and in fact global presence of Hungarian enterprises, because if a Hungarian enterprise is capable of performing major production activities not only in Hungary, but also abroad, then that increases its competitiveness on international markets, and this is what the Hungarian economy currently needs in view of the fact that a new global economic era is approaching, a new competition is commencing, and it is very important that Hungarian enterprises enter this competition from a good starting position”, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade underlined.

Mr. Szijjártó drew attention to the fact that Serbia is Hungary’s number one trade partner in the Western Balkan region. “Most Hungarian capital arrives in Serbia, and the same companies are playing a key role with relation to the rebooting of both economies”, he pointed out. “Hungary’s largest bank, OTP, is also the bank with the largest volume of disbursed loans in Serbia, in addition to which the largest corporation in Hungary, oil company MOL, recently completed the largest investment project in its history in Serbia”, he explained.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade / MTI)