Following Vojvodina and Subcarpathia, the Hungarian Government is also extending its economic development programmes aimed at strengthening Hungarian communities to Transylvania. The launching of the first model programme with a budget of one billion forints (EUR 3.2M) was announced in Marosávásárhely (Târgu Mureș) on Friday by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Minister of State for Economic Diplomacy, Levente Magyar.
“This is not a temporary measure; from now on this funding, which serves the economic strengthening of Hungarian communities, will be one of the stable pillars of Hungarian national policy”, the Minister of State declared.
Mr. Magyar expressed his firm belief that 2017, as the year in which the development programme aimed at economically reinforcing the whole community and balancing the economic policy disadvantages and grievances of the Hungarian minority, will in future be regarded as a historic milestone year by the Hungarian minority in Transylvania.
Based on the Vojvodina model, where the total sum of funding has now exceeded fifty billion forints (EUR 161M), the Minister of State for Economic Diplomacy said that in the long term the funding provided via Transylvanian economic development programmes would reach an order of magnitude of some one hundred billion forints.
“This is the first time in decades that Hungary has had a national government that is not only committed to the national cause, bit which with regard to financial resources is also capable of realising such a huge project”, Mr. Magyar declared, adding that the conditions are not only available with regards to a political will and economic capabilities, but in the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ) the Hungarian Government had also found a prepared and committed partner that is capable of implementing a programme of this nature.
For three months beginning in mid-June, Hungarian farmers and entrepreneurs living in the towns and villages of the Transylvanian Plain will be able to submit their applications for funding to the Pro Economica Foundation, which has been established to manage the programmes in Transylvania.
The Foundation has set up its headquarters in the Köpeczi-Teleki house on Marosvásárhely’s main square. The Office was jointly opened by Mr. Magyar and President of the RMDSZ Hunor Kelemen.
At the press conference held to announce the launching of the Maros-Transylvanian Plain Development Programme, the RMDSZ President recalled that when the first economic development programme of its kind was launched in Vojvodina, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had promised that as soon as the opportunity arose the Hungarian Government would also be extending the funding system to Transylvania and all regions which are inhabited by Hungarian communities.
“It is in all our common interests for people to enjoy a better standard of living, for them to be able to establish a future for their families, and have the opportunity to make a living at home without needing to emigrate to somewhere else to create the conditions necessary for prosperity”, the Transylvanian politician explained, expressing his thanks to the Hungarian Government for directing funding towards the realisation of this goal.
“The launching of the new programmes will also have a positive effect on the Romanian economy, and accordingly I hope that it is also accepted with open arms by the Romanian authorities”, he noted. “If the ‘dress rehearsal’ in the Transylvanian Plain region is a success, the economic development programmes will also be extended to Szeklerland, Partium and Southern Transylvania, while always taking into account local idiosyncrasies and community requirements during the course of strategic planning”, the RMDSZ President promised.
(MTI)
