Foreign direct investment up significantly in January-June

Budapest, July 8 (MTI) – After a record year last year, the number of foreign investment projects in Hungary supported by the national investment promotion agency (HIPA) has grown significantly in January-June, reaching 1.33 billion euros, the foreign ministry’s state secretary said on Friday.

Thanks to the growing number of investments, a response must be given to the current labour shortage, Levente Magyar told a press conference. By contrast, before 2010 Hungary’s problem had been mass unemployment.

Robert Esik, HIPA’s president, said the agency had approved supporting 38 FDI projects in the first half of the year, 27 percent more than during the same period in 2015. These will create 8,529 jobs over the next few years, he said.

Eight new foreign investors have opted for Hungary and 32 already here have decided to reinvest here. This shows that the majority of big companies have a favourable view of Hungary, he added.

Source: MTI