Hungarian trading house system coming to an end

Szófia, 2018. július 7. Orbán Viktor miniszterelnök (elöl, b) és Szijjártó Péter külgazdasági és külügyminiszter (j) Kína, valamint 16 kelet- és közép-európai ország évenkénti csúcstalálkozóján Szófiában 2018. július 7-én. MTI Fotó: Szigetváry Zsolt

The Hungarian government closes trading outstations and sub-offices world-wide due to the system’s huge economic damage. As 24.hu reports, the closure of trading houses is unexpected even notwithstanding the re-organization of the company group.

The Hungarian National Trading House now falls under the authority of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Trading House will soon be part of HEPA Hungarian Export Development Agency Nonprofit Ltd as a result of a fusion with its subsidiary company. Export Development Promotional Centers will be created following international trends.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the 5 centers will operate with decreased functions and will become more focused territorially.

Although Jobbik has formerly queried the Foreign Ministry over the trading house losses, the billions spent on the formulation of the trading house system seem to be wasted, which means the closure of even more offices than expected, as there were more than one offices in the United States and China. There are currently 41 partner countries listed on the website of the trading houses, such as Chile and Mexico.

As the logistical functions of the new centers will be lowered, cut-backs can be expected at the company. According to Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs, the main goal of the restructuring is to enhance export abilities of small and medium-size Hungarian companies. The new centers will also aim at helping companies that have enough capacities and high added value to reach out to foreign markets.

The organization will be lead by Gábor Ligetfalvi, who has worked for several companies close to the Fidesz-regime, such as Hungarian Gas Transit Ltd and the Hungarian Development Bank.

Huge failures may possibly be the reason for the re-organization of the trading house system. Although formerly considered as a catalyst to the region’s economic markets, the case of 5 Turkish trading houses was another great fiasco of the governmental system: the sub-offices could not even perform one transaction during the period of 3 years.