Hungarian government believes car industry and EV factories are key priorities

Hungary’s economic recovery is underway this year, in spite of extraordinary difficulties and turbulence, laying the foundation for significant growth in 2025, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said giving testimony before parliament’s economy committee on Tuesday. As he said, Orbán cabinet believes car industry and EV factories are key priorities.

Szijjarto said the weight of the global economy had shifted to the East in recent years, while the competition to attract multinationals’ investments had intensified. He warned of the danger of efforts to divide the world into blocs again and said the government was focused on strengthening connectivity.

He said the government had adopted a policy of economic neutrality, paving the way for the country to become a “meeting point” for the economies of the East and the West.

Hungary has become the “number one” location in Europe for cooperation between Western and Eastern companies, he added.

Szijjártó said the government had supported 255 investments with HUF 869bn in subsidies in 2023 and the first half of 2024. Those projects were worth more than HUF 6,000bn and created around 25,000 jobs, he added.

He noted that

62pc of that investment volume had come from China. South Korean companies were runner-up, followed by ones from Germany, he added.

Hungary accounted for 44pc of all Chinese investments in Europe during the period, he said. This year, Chinese investments in Hungary created 11,500 jobs, while investments by German companies created 3,000, he added.

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Government support for investments went to projects in 19 branches of industry, although the most support went to electromobility investments, he said.

Szijjártó highlighted big investments in the pipeline, including Chinese EV manufacturer BYD’s plant in Szeged, German car maker BMW’s factory in Debrecen and the expansion of the Mercedes base in Kecskemét.

When those projects are finished, annual vehicle production in Hungary will climb over 1 million, he added.

Szijjártó also noted big battery manufacturing investments necessary for EV production.

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