Huge Alstom investment inaugurated in Hungary

Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, on Thursday inaugurated a capacity expansion of French machine manufacturer Alstom in Mátranovák, in north-east Hungary, and said that record investments would propel the country to the top of Europe’s list of fastest-growing nations.

The HUF 6 billion (EUR 15.4 million) Alstom project, which is expected to create 150 jobs, is supported by a HUF 1.2 billion (EUR 3.08 million) government grant, Szijjártó said.

The investment will expand the Alstom plant’s capacity by 40 percent, he added.

France, the second largest economy in the EU, is among the five largest investors in Hungary, he added.

Parliament debates Hungary-UAE economic agreement

Parliament debated a proposal on an economic agreement between Hungary and the United Arab Emirates at its plenary on Thursday.

Tristan Azbej, a state secretary of the foreign ministry, said opposition lawmakers had “willfully misunderstood” the proposal.

Regarding the investment project to redevelop Rákosrendező area in Budapest’s 14th district, Azbej said the government was seeking a parliamentary mandate for an international agreement laying the groundwork for the project, he added.

“The bill doesn’t apply to the implementation of the Rákosrendező investment or the details contained therein, but solely to the request for authorisation relating to the procedure establishing [the project] through an international treaty,” he said.

Public consultation on the project was concluded in January in accordance with the law, he said. The consultation had yielded professionals’ remarks on issues such as green areas, environmental sustainability and other topics. The government “has considered the proposals and included them [in the project] within the bounds of common sense,” he said.

Azbej said compensation had also been included in the proposal. The investment itself “will create value on a scale that makes it significant to national economy and enriches the budget,” he said, adding that the investment was expected to create some 30,000 jobs.

He said it was inexplicable that green politicians could object to the a capital investment that would create areas with bicycle paths closed to traffic and new housing which coincided with their own policy aims.

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