Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have a lion’s share from establishing a work-based society, Minister of National Development Miklós Seszták said at the inauguration ceremony of the new packaging plant of Adu Alba Kft., a Hungarian-owned enterprise with annual revenues exceeding HUF 500m, in Székesfehérvár on Tuesday.
Hungarian-owned SMEs have two million employees, which is why the Government decided to spend the majority of resources on their development in the EU budget cycle of 2014-2020, Miklós Seszták highlighted.
The Minister opined Hungary had recovered from the economic low point in 2010 and was on a balanced growth path now. "Small and medium enterprises are like cells adding up to gradually build a competitive national economy”, he pointed out.
The Minister noted there had been government efforts in place facilitating the strengthening of the entrepreneurial sector. These included designing a more competitive taxation system, capital and interest rate subsidies as well as improving the position of Hungarian companies by public procurement regulations.
Adu Alba Kft. did not merely wait for success but made efforts to achieve it, Miklós Seszták opined. The inauguration of the new plant means that the company has a stable clientele, it has become a continuously developing and competitive company in less than a decade and hereby contributes to the livelihood of sixty families in the neighbourhood, he said.
Mayor András Cser-Palkovics (Fidesz) emphasised that the long-term development of Hungarian SMEs could be the basis for the further strengthening of the Hungarian economy. In the coming years, production bases will gain higher importance throughout Europe, i.e. production will be put in the focus, which will affect the development of all Hungary, he added.
The mayor expressed pleasure that the economy of Székesfehérvár was getting stronger as well, which was proven by 9.3 per cent growth in local business tax revenues last year.
Owner-managing director József Varga revealed the company had implemented its brown field investment in Alba Industrial Zone with the help of the funding for growth scheme of the National Bank of Hungary, using a budget of some HUF 200 million. The loan amounted to 120 million forints.
In the course of the project, the former Soviet house of culture was purchased and after reconstruction and refurbishment, a production hall of 1800 square metres was established in it.
Adu Alba Kft. was founded in 2003 as a fully Hungarian-owned private family business. The company’s major activities are designing, developing and manufacturing packaging materials made of wood, plastic and industrial foam and providing quality-related services.
The size of the staff grows continuously by 10-20 per cent a year; at the moment there are more than 60 employees. Last year’s revenues were approximately HUF 530 million; the planned growth for 2015 is 20 per cent.
(Ministry of National Development)
