Export Performance Has Tripled in the Last Fifteen Years

Despite all the global difficulties, last year was an absolute record year in terms of foreign trade indicators, breaking records that would be considered a brilliant achievement even in peacetime, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in Budapest on Tuesday.

The Minister pointed out at the opening event of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry that the global economy has been turned upside down several times in the last few years due to the COVID pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Despite all these challenges, last year was an absolute record year for Hungary in terms of external economic indicators, and Hungary broke records that “are considered a feat even in peacetime, even in a business cycle,” while globally, investment fell by 30 percent, he noted.

“Never before have we concluded so many agreements on foreign investment in Hungary, and never before has the Hungarian economy been able to show such export performance,” the politician said. He underlined that the value of exports of goods was close to EUR 150 billion, an increase of 4.5 percent, and trade was also at a record high.

If we put the figures in a historical context, we can see that compared to 2009, Hungarian export performance has tripled, so we are talking about a 15-year export tripling, which I think is the case for very few countries,”

Minister Szijjártó said.

He noted that the ratio of exports to gross domestic product (GDP) was also growing steadily, reaching around 85 percent by 2023.

The Foreign Minister also pointed out that there is now a complete diversification of capital flowing into the country, with South Korea and China bringing the most investment in the last four years, twice from both countries. He touched on last year’s investment record in more detail, recalling that the 2022 record of EUR 6.5 billion was doubled, with EUR 13 billion, more than 80 percent of which was tied to Eastern companies.

Meanwhile, however, German and U.S. firms continue to lead the way in the number of projects, and this is a very positive situation,”

he added.

The Minister also spoke about the regional development aspects, stressing that it had been a major challenge in the past that the investment attractiveness and development of the eastern and southwestern parts of the country were at a significant disadvantage compared to the northwest region.

In recent years, we have worked very hard to develop the eastern part of the country with investments so that it reaches the level of development of western and northwestern Hungary,

he highlighted.

“The first and third largest investments in Hungary’s history are taking place in Debrecen (eastern Hungary) at the same time. The first European factory of the world’s best performing electric car manufacturer is being built in Szeged (southeastern Hungary), and the Nyíregyháza Industrial Park (northeastern Hungary) is receiving investments of over a billion euros, while in Miskolc (northeastern Hungary) Bosch has built a base that is unrivaled in Europe,” Szijjártó concluded.

Via MTI, Featured image: Pixabay