Hungary committed to sustainable development, says minister at Huawei conference

Hungary is committed to sustainable development and is working to become an European center for 5G technology, the minister of innovation and technology told a conference organised by Chinese telecom giant Huawei on Monday.

The Connected for Shared Prosperity conference carried online was organised on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress of GSMA, focusing on digitalisation as a tool to promote sustainable economic and social development.

Citing a United Nations forecast, Palkovics said in his address that global consumption would double in the next 40 years.

“We must strive for sustainability, use our restricted resources efficiently and rely on renewables rather than non-renewables so that our planet stays liveable,” he said, urging joint efforts “to resolve a global issue”.

The Hungarian government has launched an ambitious development plan focusing on the social, economic, and environmental pillars of sustainable development, Palkovics said, adding that the social component was based on the country’s “holistic family policy” aimed at reinforcing families and promoting a turnaround in downward demographic tendencies.

The government is “determined to solidify Hungary as a nation based on knowledge and innovation”,

Palkovics said, adding that 70 percent of the country’s energy was produced in a carbon-neutral way, a ratio that was to be increased to 90 percent by 2030.

Concerning the government’s climate and environment protection plan, Palkovics said that the goals included reducing the amount of waste while it outlined commitments towards renewable energy and climate protection, too.

Palkovics said that

the government’s digitalisation strategy was aimed at putting Hungary among the first ten countries of the European Union by 2030, reducing the ratio of adults not using the internet to 2 percent.

The minister also said that Hungary’s 4G coverage was an “outstanding” 99.5 percent, adding however that “the future belongs to 5G”, which “offers a greener solution in many areas”, thus contributing to a sustainable and environmentally friendly development. Hungary is committed to becoming a major European centre for 5G developments, he added.