Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced the launching of a new, 2-billion-forint (EUR 5.7 million) SME funding program in a video posted to his Facebook page on Saturday, in which he emphasised that the new global economic era that is coming about as a result of the coronavirus pandemic holds both challenges and opportunities for countries like Hungary in which exports play an absolutely determining role with relation to the performance of the economy.

“For this reason, the government is launching a new funding program for Hungarian small and medium-sized enterprises that are exploiting the new beginning to achieve success on foreign markets”, he stated.

The program has a budget of 2 billion forints, and applications for up to 50 million forints (EUR 142 thousand) per enterprise with relation to foreign brand-building, the preparation of small investment projects and the development of online distribution channels may be submitted from 3 August this year.

The Minister emphasised that exports will continue to determine the performance of the Hungarian economy in future, “and this is one of the reasons why it is important for us to overtake in the turn, and for us to acquire an advantage during a period in which others may not have the opportunity to do so”. Applications for funding within the framework of the program may be submitted via the Hungarian Export Promotion Agency (HEPA) website.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade / MTI)