“Now that several major corporations have established production capacities in Hungary, they are being encouraged to bring engineering and service activities into the country”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s State Secretary for Information and the International Representation of Hungary Tamás Menczer said at the opening of the Think.BDPST conference in Budapest on Thursday.

“The funding system has been reorganised in the interests of enabling companies that bring new technologies to Hungary to also receive government resources”, he emphasised, adding: “There was Made in Hungary; there will be Invented in Hungary”. Mr. Menczer said that, amongst others, this is one of the reasons why it is worthwhile for investors and start-ups to plan their future in Hungary, adding: “Everything is in motion, and it is the Government’s task to see and recognise the changes within the global economy and to prepare for them”.

“It is in this spirit that the Government is working and performing its foreign economic activities. The efforts of the Government are also contributing to the fact that the number of investors coming to Hungary breaks a new record every year. 29 projects were completed within the innovation sector in 2018, which represents an increase of 60 percent compared to the previous year’s level”, the State Secretary highlighted. “Investors are looking for political stability and a calculable economy, and these are given in Hungary”, he added. Mr. Menczer pointed out that Hungary would like to remain among the world’s frontrunners within the field of intelligent transport systems, and this goal is being served by the soon-to-open test track in Zalaegerszeg, where self-driven cars will be tested. In his speech, the United Kingdom’s Ambassador to Hungary Iain Lindsay stressed that the UK is playing an outstanding role in enabling the European Union to be a frontrunner within the field of research.

“This requires high added value and an openness towards the world”, he said. The Ambassador indicated that, irrespective of the outcome of Brexit, the United Kingdom will be continuing its research cooperation with its European partners. Mr. Lindsay said the United Kingdom is one of Europe’s top five innovators, with three of the country’s universities in the top seven in the world rankings, and every one of the UK’s universities in the top 100. “The performance of small and medium-sized enterprises is encouraging, and the country issues more than the EU average of doctorates, and together these effects improve competitiveness and increase employment”, the British Ambassador said, adding. “It is good to see that more and more Hungarian start-ups are choosing the UK to break into the global market”.

At the opening ceremony, Deputy Mayor of Budapest Alexandra Szalay-Bobrovinczky said that in the capital innovation and sustainability are not an option, but a requirement, because if we do not pay attention to the city’s future, it could be lost. “The key to success is to find solutions that will still be relevant in 20 years”, she said, adding: “Sectoral strategies and building on knowledge are important, because we need to know now what kind of a city we would like to live in in 20-30 years’ time”.

“For Budapest to play an even more important role in Europe than it does now, a knowledge-based economy must be established, research & development activities must be developed, and the city must offer cheap internet access”, she emphasised.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)