The issue of migration, the management of „modern-age mass migration”, or in other words, the restoration of the patrolling of the Hungarian border, is not a factor that could distance Hungary from Serbia, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said at the Hungarian-Serbian business forum organised by Magyar Nemzeti Kereskedőház Zrt. in Budapest on Wednesday.
We have every reason to expect that good neighbourly relations will continue between Serbia and Hungary also in the years to come; the leaders of the two countries have every intention of maintaining stable relations, the Prime Minister said.
Mr Orbán further said before an audience of Hungarian and Serbian businesspeople: the Government is working hard to find the means by which the Hungarian economy may be elevated from the current 3 per cent growth rate to a growth range nearer to 5 per cent. "We do not have an answer yet to this question, but the Government is determined”, the Prime Minister said, who is certain that they will find the sectors, the intensive development of which may boost the Hungarian growth rate to in excess of 3 per cent.
In the Prime Minister’s words, the conditions of stability in Serbian-Hungarian cooperation exist. One may know that Hungary is a stable country because „the opposition fiercely criticises the government” as „at times when the opposition is quieter, it means that there are problems”.
The more good business deals come into being between Serbia and Hungary, the sounder the foundations of good Serbian-Hungarian governmental cooperation, Mr Orbán said.
The Prime Minister finally spoke of privatisation in Serbia, in the context of which he said: Hungary has never sought to gain economic advantages abroad at the expense of the locals. Therefore, he requested his Serbian counterpart to keep him informed on privatisation in Serbia as comprehensively as possible, and urged Serbia „to identify the sectors in which the Serbs are happy to see us”. In reasoning this statement, the Prime Minister said: Hungarians would not like to find themselves in situations such as the ones that emerged in Hungary where privatisation was conducted without sufficient deliberation, and another government was compelled to re-nationalise certain economic areas out of national interests. "We would not like to be at the receiving end of such a policy”, he added.
In his speech, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic drew attention to the fiscal stabilisation implemented in Serbia, arguing that fiscal discipline cannot always be reconciled with economic growth, but according to expectations, Serbia’s gross domestic product will start increasing this year, and the goal is for the country to reach a 2 per cent growth rate within a foreseeable time.
The Serbian Prime Minister requested Hungarian companies to take part in the Serbian privatisation process as actively as they can, in the largest possible numbers. He said that 35 Hungarian companies are already involved in the process; most of them have interests in agriculture and the food industry. Aleksandar Vucic said that every company is assigned a mentor who helps with the swift and effective implementation of the procedures.
He reiterated that a law had recently been passed regarding the regulation of planning permission, in consequence of which investors must be granted all necessary permits within just 28 days.
Aleksandar Vucic takes the view that investors do not find any other government in the Western Balkans that grants more favourable terms than the Government of Serbia.
He argued that investors find favourable conditions in Serbia also on account of the fact that a number of reforms were implemented in the country after last year’s flood. He mentioned the new Labour Code and the flexible labour market as examples. He drew attention to the fact that Hungarian investors find highly favourable conditions not only in Vojvodina but also in the rest of Serbia.
Aleksandar Vucic added: inflation was 1.8 per cent last year, industrial production grew by 17 per cent, and the deficit of the budget decreased from 6.7 to 1.7 per cent in the first half of the year. The recovery effort in the wake of the flood had its effect felt in the first four months, and therefore the second half of the year will be more relevant to economic growth, he added.
The Serbian Prime Minister stressed: they would like to welcome Hungarian companies in the largest possible numbers in Serbia, and not only small and medium-sized businesses but also large corporations.
(MTI/Prime Minister's Office)
