Competitiveness Council to start work this month

Budapest (MTI) – The body established with the task of improving Hungary’s competitiveness will start working in the second half of this month, Economy Minister Mihály Varga announced at an awarding ceremony of business entrepreneurs on Tuesday.

Varga proposed the creation of the National Competitiveness Council in September last year. It will comprise members of academia, the business world and the public sector, he said at that time.

The council will serve the primary objective of boosting the country’s competitiveness over the next years which also includes improving state services, Varga said.

Varga noted the government’s initiative to redesign the country’s central fostered work scheme in the coming months with the aim to reduce the number of fostered workers by 50,000 in the second half of the year.

Speaking about overall employment, Varga said the unemployment rate was currently an average 4.3 percent. He added, however, that some sectors are hit by shortage of manpower, with a total 67,000 vacancies reported.

The economy ministry is now drafting a concept on further developing the system of vocational training aimed at making careers requiring skilled work more attractive to secondary school students, Varga said.

Source: MTI