LMP calls on govt to improve SME competitiveness

Budapest, August 9 (MTI) – Green opposition LMP has called on the government to take steps to boost the competitiveness of Hungarian small and medium-sized enterprises.

Erzsébet Schmuck, the party’s deputy group leader, said on Tuesday that the government should make SMEs more competitive by making more European Union funding available to them, raising wages, amending the tax code and developing vocational training.

She blamed “the government’s flawed economic policy”, which she said “keeps wages artificially low”, for the increasing labour shortages and the overall “difficult situation” SMEs face. The government’s economic policy drives skilled workers to multinational companies or abroad, she said.

Schmuck said it is mainly multinationals that benefit from tax breaks and government support while two-thirds of EU funds go to public sector players.

She called on the government to make EU funding available to SMEs in the same amount as they are available to multinational companies, adding that funds should be awarded on the basis of qualification instead of political connections.

Source: MTI