Hungary aims to become one of Europe's most competitive bases for research and development, Péter Szijjártó, minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said.
The minister said Hungary plans to foster the region’s best investment environment by creating the most efficient way to link production through digitization.
Amid the current turning point for the global economy, the success of Hungary’s open economy depends on whether it can provide an appropriate digital abode and tax environment, the minister told a meeting of the Confederation of Hungarian Employers and Industrialists.
The challenge on the stretched labor market can be met thanks to government job-training subsidies calculated on the basis of the number of trainees and talks with the confederation are under way to increase the maximum subsidy to 4,000 EUR from 3,000 while raising the training period to two years from 18 months.
The car industry and the transition to new technology continue to play leading roles in Hungary’s economy, he said, adding that a major announcement would soon be made in the field of electromobility. Several development centers are being set up for autonomous vehicles in Hungary and special attention is being paid to expanding the base of Hungarian suppliers, he added.
Discussing global trends, the minister said America’s more patriotic economic policy would determine global economic developments and adjustments should be made accordingly, taking into consideration the more than 9 billion dollars of US investments in Hungary. The other major factor is China’s constant expansion which is “seriously influencing” Europe’s competitiveness, Minister Szijjarto said. Capital is moving not only from west to east but the other way round too, and Far-East companies are increasingly searching for production potential in Europe, he added.