National Economy Minister stresses need to boost competitiveness at Eurofi Conference

National Economy Minister Márton Nagy said Europe was lagging in the race with its global competitors, addressing a conference organised by Eurofi in Budapest, his ministry said on Friday.

Nagy told the European Union economic and financial decision-makers at the conference that strengthening the competitiveness of the EU and its members states was “vitally important”. He said Hungary had drafted a new competitiveness deal in the framework of its presidency of the Council of the EU and would present it in October.

Commenting on the Draghi report on European competitiveness released days earlier, Nagy said the financial sector played a “key role, as a catalyst” for boosting competitiveness. He added that players in the sector needed support in the areas of sustainability and digitalisation, while noting that consumers and consumer protection remained a priority.

At a roundtable discussion at the conference, Anikó Túri, a state secretary at the National Economy Ministry, pointed to the risk of refined methods of fraud that had developed parallel with the fast pace of digitalisation. She said that boosting financial awareness was key to addressing that risk, a responsibility that needed to be shared by governments and financial services providers.

Economy minister meets with EBRD president

Mr Nagy met with Odile Renaud-Basso, the president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), in his office in Budapest on Friday, his ministry said.

Nagy offered his congratulations on Renaud-Basso’s re-election in May and acknowledged her work to keep the EBRD resilient in the face of challenges in the changing international economic environment. The sides discussed the Hungarian economy, local EBRD investments and the priorities of Hungary’s presidency of the Council of the European Union with regard to competitiveness.

Nagy said all of the international financial institutions for development in which Hungary was a stakeholder were important, as it could best advocate for its interests with a presence in those institutions. He noted that the EBRD had added tens of millions of euros to its Hungarian portfolio in the first half of 2024, making investments in the financial, farming and real estate sectors.

He highlighted the EBRD’s participation in the state’s acquisition of Liszt Ferenc International operator Budapest Airport and said the government saw the lender as a strategic partner in the long term, too, with regard to financing developments at the airport. The National Economy Ministry seeks opportunities to expand ties between Hungary and the EBRD and counts on the lender to participate in local developments advancing the green transition and digitalisation.