The government is working to ensure that the backbone of Hungary’s food supplies is made up of domestic companies, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said on Friday, noting the importance of domestic food supplies during the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking at a ceremony to announce a new investment by Hunent, a company processing waterfowl, Szijjártó said countries across the world were now building capacities to ensure their own supplies, while “the old dogma of making supply chains international has become obsolete”.
Referring to challenges posed by a new era in the global economy, Szijjártó said that players resolving difficulties through investments rather than layoffs would be truly successful, adding that the Hungarian economy had enjoyed “one of its best years of all time” in 2021.
The new 6.5 billion forint (EUR 18.1 million) project at Mélykút, in southern Hungary, has been granted 2.2 billion forints of Hungarian state support, and the company has agreed to retain 500 jobs.
Fully 90 percent of Hunent’s suppliers are Hungarian companies and 70 percent of its products are sold abroad, Szijjártó said. Output of the food sector employing 145,000 Hungarians was valued at over 4,000 billion forints last year, up by 16 percent from 2020, he added.
featured image via Péter Szijjártó’s Facebook page
