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US companies continue to be the second largest investor community in Hungary, and thus play a major role in guaranteeing Hungary’s economic neutrality, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in Budapest on Thursday.
The Minister welcomed the fact that US companies continue to be the second largest investor community in Hungary, and said that the government intends to encourage new investments by continuously improving the conditions.
He also referred to the serious challenges of recent years, in particular the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, leading to a very difficult economic situation and a European response. “The closer we are to war and the more vulnerable we are to international energy markets, the more damaging these circumstances have proven to be,” the politician underlined.
Mr. Szijjártó recalled the skyrocketing inflation and the fact that last year was basically about slashing price rises in Hungary, rather than putting resources into growth-enhancing activities. “And this huge inflation did not occur because we messed up the economic strategy (…) No, it was due to an external cause that we could not control,” he underlined. He went on to say that
inflation has now fallen, consumption is starting to pick up, and real wages have started to rise again.
So we are now back on track (…) But we want to give the economy a new impetus. We want to achieve growth of between three and six percent next year,” the politician said. In this context, he explained that next year some of the major investments currently underway could reach the start of the production phase, such as the BMW plant, the new Mercedes unit, CATL and the BYD plant.
Minister Szijjártó also outlined the strategy of economic neutrality, meaning that the government wants to attract investment to the country from all directions. “We do not select investors based on their nationality. We do not exclude cooperation with certain companies just because of their origin. And if you look at the landscape of the Hungarian economy now, you will see that we have become a kind of meeting point for Eastern and Western economies,” he noted. “For us,
economic neutrality means that in Hungary, as an American, you can work with whoever you want, whether it is Chinese, Indian, Korean, Dutch, or German, it does not matter to us.
If you respect our rules, if you want to invest here, that is fine,” the politician underlined. “That is why we will never interfere in the life and operation of American companies here in Hungary, in who they work with and how they work with them, as long as they respect the rules,” he added.
In this context, the Minister reiterated that the Hungarian government attaches great importance to the role of US companies. “They have always made a major contribution to the growth of the Hungarian economy, and we count on this in the future too. We place special emphasis and attention on investments by companies with an American background, and we are always open to them,” he concluded.
Via MTI; Featured image via Facebook/Szijjártó Péter
