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The Government is ready to continue its economic development program in Slovakia, already creating hundreds of new jobs in recent years, thus helping the local Hungarian community to survive, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in Somotor, (Szomotor) Slovakia.
The minister noted at the inauguration of the agricultural integration center built in the village that it will provide small farmers with the materials they need for production on a contractual basis, and then buy and sell their produce on foreign markets at competitive prices. The project, worth around HUF 3.5 billion (EUR 9 million), was supported by the Hungarian government with HUF 1.7 billion (EUR 4.4 million).
He stressed that local farmers have been facing difficulties due to the challenges of the recent period, but
this investment could give a boost to farmers and, at the same time, to the economies of southeastern Slovakia and northeastern Hungary.
Szijjártó recalled that the government launched the Baross Gábor Plan in 2017, at the request and on the advice of the Hungarian community in Slovakia, supporting 3,827 companies, mainly in the food, agriculture, and manufacturing sectors, with a total investment of HUF 21.7 billion (EUR 55.7 million), resulting in HUF 41.5 billion (EUR 106.6 million) of investments in the southern part of Slovakia.
Szijjártó called the promotion of investment by Hungarian companies in foreign, mainly Hungarian, areas an important foreign economic effort. “If I add this to the economic development figures I mentioned earlier, I can tell you that the economic development and investment programs have supported a total of four thousand projects here in Slovakia, resulting in a total of HUF 82 billion (EUR 210.6 million) of investment,” he noted.
The minister underlined that the Hungarian government is ready to continue implementing joint development projects. “We sincerely hope that Slovakia will have a government after the elections on Saturday which will take the cause of this region to heart and see the joint economic development program as a common interest,” he pointed out.
“I respectfully call on the Hungarians of Slovakia (…) to participate in the parliamentary elections that will determine the future of Slovakia, and I would like to respectfully draw their attention to the fact that once again there is a political force that represents the Hungarian people as a united force,” he said.
If Hungarians are represented in Bratislava, this will be a great resource for the future development of Hungarian-Slovak relations,”
he added.
The Minister concluded with the thought that “there is much more that binds us together than some people try to suggest,” and pointed out that Slovakia is our third largest trading partner and the common border between the two countries is 654 kilometers long.
Via MTI, Featured image via Facebook/Szijjártó Péter
