Government’s aim’s to attract as much foreign investment as possible

The government continues to focus on attracting as much foreign investment as possible, thus keeping the national economy on a growth path, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said on Friday.

Péter Szijjártó said investments required “stability politically, physically, and in terms of energy supplies” which Hungary could all ensure. Speaking at the inauguration of a new facility of Tamási-Hus Kft, owned by Austria’s Gierlinger Holding, the minister said the government’s top priority was to keep the economy on a growth path for the long term, thus preventing the country from being hit by recession in Europe.

Szijjártó said the government highly appreciated investment projects contributing to the high technology of Hungary’s food industry, adding that he was proud that “one plant out of the five belonging to Austria’s largest meet producer is here in Hungary”. He said the new plant and warehousing unit had cost a total of 14 billion forints (EUR 43.1m), and created 255 jobs.

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The minister said ensuring security of food supplies was a top priority for the government. He said Hungarian food production had “stood the test of shocks it was exposed to in recent years”, as there had been no interruptions of supply despite “supply routes becoming erratic due to the pandemic”.

For example, he mentioned that in 2021, when “the world was still suffering from the impacts of the pandemic”, Hungary’s food production had totalled a record 4,400 billion forints, 17 percent on top of the previous year. He added that 2022 August data had indicated a 4,000 billion total, 46 percent up from 2021.

Hungary’s food sector employs 135,000 people, while its exports, shipped to 163 countries, exceeded 10 billion euros last year, 11 percent up from 2020, Szijjártó said.

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Source: MTI