“Over the past ten years, the Hungarian economy has become vigorous, and every investment made by Hungarian enterprises represents a small victory over the market challenges caused by the global pandemic”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Wednesday in Debrecen at a ceremony to present local business Bumet Hungary Limited with a funding certificate within the framework of the Competitiveness-increasing Program.

Mr. Szijjártó said that in addition to protecting people’s lives and health, the state must also protect workplaces, because in order for the country to be able to continue operating as normal, the economy must also be operational. “The work of the Hungarian people is required for the Hungarian economy to be successful”, the Minister said, summarising his position. “Instead of funding unemployment, when developing its economic strategy the Hungarian government decided to fund the fight against unemployment, and this is why it is, for instance, contributing 267 million forints (EUR 730 thousand) towards the 552-million-forint (EUR 1.51 million) investment being realised by Debrecen-based Bumet Hungary Ltd., thanks to which 158 workplaces are being preserved at the company”, the Minister added.

Referring to the Dutch ownership of Bumet Hungary Ltd., Mr. Szijjártó also spoke about Dutch-Hungarian cooperation. “The Netherlands is currently Hungary’s 7th most important trade partner and the country’s 10th largest foreign investor; the 550 Dutch companies operating in Hungary provide work for 16 thousand people”, the Foreign Minister pointed out.

The region’s Member of Parliament Lajos Kósa (Fidesz) recalled that Bumet was the first foreign company to “settle” in Debrecen in 2011, confirming the economic development concept launched in 1998 that aimed to support enterprises that represent high added value, and to reorganise the vocational training system to make it more practice-orientated. “Bumet is an excellent example of the fact that if the enterprise is good, the location is good and cooperation is good, then that is a guaranteed recipe for success”, the Fidesz politician said.

After being officially presented with the company’s funding certificate from Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó, Bumet Hungary Limited’s plant manager Krisztián Hegedűs said Debrecen’s investor environment, where the company has been able to realise high quality production within the field of pressed parts production using manual robot welding and surface treatment technology, is unique. “Last year, the Debrecen plant, which employs 158 people, realised 11.6 million euros in turnover, over 99 percent of which was derived from exports”, it was stated.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade / MTI)