“The investment record has already been broken this year, with agreements concluded on 62 major investment projects that mean the creation of 9682 new workplaces, towards which the government has provided 129 billion forints (EUR 386 million) in cash funding”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó emphasised on Tuesday at his annual hearing before Parliament’s Economic Committee.

At the hearing, the Minister explained that the average salary with relation to the new workplaces that have been created via the investment promotion system averaged 420 thousand forints last year, increasing to 458 thousand forints in the first ten months of this year. During the first ten months, 10 major investments arrived from Korea and 3 from Japan, with a total value of some 3 billion euros, all of which are linked to the electric vehicle industry.

“With relation to the investments realised during the first ten months of this year, Komárom-Esztergom County is in first place with 11 major investment projects, with Pest County in second place with 9, followed by Budapest with 6”, he added. The Minister also spoke about last year’s export record, explaining that with its 104.8 billion euros in exports, Hungary is now among the world’s top 35 economies that export over 100 billion euros each year.

“He pointed out that Hungarian export performance has increased by 47 percent compared to 2010, which indicates Hungary’s increasing competitiveness. Hungary exported 72.2 billion euros in good and services during the first eight months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 4 percent, meaning there is a good chance that by the end of this year Hungary could achieve its highest ever recorded export performance”, the Minister said. “Exports achieved 84.9 percent of GDP last year, compared to an EU average of 46.7 percent, placing Hungary in 6th place within the EU”, he added.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the application of new technologies has become the prerequisite for success in the new global economic era, and we must do away with the old dogma according to which capital flows from West to East in search of cheap labour. “These processes have become two-directional, with some new technologies and development coming from the East in the new global economic era, and capital investment is also moving in two directions. The process is also visible within the European economy in view of the fact that Chinese, Japanese and Korean buyers are acquiring ownership in Western European enterprises”, Mr. Szijjártó stated.

“Parallel to the new global economic era, the Hungarian economy is also realising a dimensional transition, and is increasingly transforming from a production-orientated economy into a development-orientated economy”, he emphasised. “Hungary’s competitiveness within the renewed international space is indicated by the fact that while Hungary is placed 92nd in the world with relation to its population, it realised the 34th highest export performance in the world last year”, Mr. Szijjártó highlighted.

(MTI)