Tibor Navracsics, the public administration and regional development minister, has highlighted a new model which aims to focus on cooperation rather than competition among localities in the same “developmental regions” in Hungary.
Minister Navracsics said that while Hungary has shown significant development in the past years, this was mostly down to the growth seen in Budapest and its suburbs. Minister Navracsics said the city’s GDP per capita was at 129% of the EU average in 2004, and that grew to 158% by 2022. At the same time, the GDP/per capita of Hungary’s north-eastern region was at 52% of the EU average in 2022, up from 44% in 2004. In the north-west, one of the most developed rural regions of the country, the GDP/capita was at 68% of the EU average in 2022, up from 66% in 2004, he added. The government adopted a new law on regional development last year, which aims to involve regions more in decision-making, he said. The new model aims to focus on cooperation rather than competition among localities in the same “developmental regions”. Thus, Budapest and its suburbs, home to some 3 million people, “are considered one city” from a development point of view, Navracsics said. The second development region would include localities situated 50-90km from Budapest, and the third comprises cities near the borders that would particularly benefit from cross-border cooperation, he said.