Árpád János Potápi, State Secretary of the Prime Minister’s Office for National Policy described the reinforcement of young entrepreneurs in the Carpathian Basin as a national interest at a conference held in Bucharest.

He stressed that the support provided by the Hungarian Government serves to help young entrepreneurs to become models for their own environment and the entire Hungarian community. The State Secretary said at the business conference organised jointly by the Hungarian Business Association in Romania, the organisation which represents the interests of Hungarian businesspeople active in Romania, and the Hungarian Embassy in Bucharest: the calls worth HUF 525 million announced as part of the year of Hungarian entrepreneurs beyond the borders will be published in April. Within the framework of this scheme, young entrepreneurs under the age of 40 may submit requests for non-repayable loans of HUF 3 to 6 million.

In answer to the question of the Hungarian News Agency MTI, the State Secretary said that some 100 to 120 entrepreneurs may receive grants. As expected, they will have access to the requested funds in the summer. He stressed that they also support young people who have not yet started a business but have an idea and a business plan.

A series of consultations will begin in 14 locations before the proposals are invited in April, as part of which they will seek to enter into contact with the young people who are interested in the programme so that they may obtain first-hand information. Such consultations will be held in the larger cities of Transylvania. Mr Potápi pointed out: the Hungarian Government has done a great deal in the past few years for the reunification of the Hungarian nation. Promoting the advancement of Hungarians beyond the borders in their native land is now becoming increasingly more important as one may observe a process of emigration in the whole of the Carpathian Basin.

He added: they are supporting young entrepreneurs in order to reinforce the Hungarian economy in the Carpathian Basin. In his lecture, the State Secretary highlighted: in Transylvania the economy is advanced in Temes and Kolozs Counties, in the Partium region in the catchment area of Nagyvárad, and in Southern-Transylvania in the region around Brasov. However, Transcarpathia, Vojvodina, and also Szeklerland are very far from the same level of advancement.

At the conference László Diósi, President of the Hungarian Business Association in Romania and Chief Executive of OTP Bank Romania outlined the most important economic indicators. He established that one third of the country is far behind the general pace of growth from an economic point of view which indicates that former Romanian governments did not do enough to promote investments in these regions as well. Mr Diósi concluded with respect to the Romanian economy that it is on a course of growth, and described the preservation of macro-economic stability in the long run as an important priority. He pointed out: investors mostly have reservations regarding Romania due to bureaucracy, corruption and the unpredictable legal system, but despite these problems, there are enormous investment opportunities on the Romanian market.

Mr Diósi said: it is a positive development that the Hungarian investor community is one of the largest in Romania, and there was a decline in Romanian-Hungarian trade relations only in 2009 due to the crisis. These relations have been steadily on the increase ever since.

(MTI)