“The government would like all large cities to be accessible by at least small aeroplanes, which is an everyday thing in Western Europe, and is related to investment promotion”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Parliamentary State Secretary said in Székesfehérvár on Friday.

At the general assembly of the Association of Cities with County Rights, Levente Magyar spoke about the fact that the network of cities with country rights provides the backbone of the Hungarian economy, and accordingly the government would like to work in closer cooperation with city leaders with relation to their development. The State Secretary asked local leaders to prepare airport development plans, or to share those already drawn up with the Ministry. “On the 100th anniversary of the Treaty of Trianon, we must also examine what cross-border transport investments and projects could be realised over the upcoming years”, the State Secretary added.

Chairman of the Association of Cities with County Rights Károly Szita spoke about the fact that during the past three months Hungary’s major cities have received a huge amount of help from the government within the field of economic development and investment promotion, adding that there are two million people living in these cities, generating over a third of the country’s GDP.

Mayor of Székesfehérvár András Cser-Palkovics said government funding and EU funding arriving via the government have been extremely helpful, but the truly sustainable method of economic development is if the local economy is able to continuously grow; this is what provides a significant proportion of local government resources, with which the economy’s environment and a city can be developed.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)