Hungary Trends – The previous week in business and finance

Budapest (MTI) – See below MTI’s main business and financial news from the previous week:

BLACKROCK’S BUDAPEST INNOVATION CENTRE TO CREATE 500 JOBS

US-based investment management company BlackRock said it is setting up an innovation centre in Budapest that will create 500 jobs. The innovation centre will deal with product development and the way client data is managed as well as with creative marketing. Read more HERE.

BOSCH TO MOVE REGIONAL LOGISTICS HUB TO HUNGARY FROM 2018

German engineering giant Bosch announced plans to move its central and eastern European regional logistics centre to Hatvan, about 60km east of Budapest, from 2018. The National Industrial Park Operating and Development Company will build a 17 billion forint (EUR 54.8m) industrial park on the outskirts of Hatvan for Bosch, which will lease 60,000sqm of the area for a period a 16 years. Bosch will also commit to raising the value of its orders from local suppliers by 60 million euros over the next six years as part of the arrangement. Read more HERE.

WARNING STRIKE AT AUDI HUNGARIA

About 1,500 of the 11,500 staff of German carmaker Audi’s unit in Hungary participated in a warning strike at the company’s base in Győr, in north-western Hungary. The strike resulted in a drop in production but will not affect deliveries to customers, said Audi Hungaria communications director Péter Lőre. Read more HERE.

HUNGARY MAIZE HARVEST UP NEARLY ONE-THIRD

Hungary’s maize harvest rose by 32.8 percent to 8,807,000 tonnes last, the Central Statistical Office said. The harvest was up 24.2 percent over the annual average in 2011-2015. The average yield for maize was 8.6 tonnes per hectare last year, a new record.

HUNGARY TO REDUCE PAYROLL TAX TO 15 PC IN 2022

Hungary’s government plans to cut the payroll tax rate to 15 percent in 2022, Economy Minister Mihály Varga said. Hungarian lawmakers approved legislation late last year reducing the payroll tax from 27 percent to 22 percent in 2017 and to 20 percent in 2018.

VARGA PRESENTS PROPOSAL FOR LOWER INTERNET VAT RATE TO REGIONAL PEERS

Economy Minister Mihály Varga informed his peers from European Union member states that have not yet joined the euro zone of Hungary’s proposal for the taxation of digital businesses and a reduction of the VAT rate for internet service at an informal dinner in Brussels. A number of the finance and economy ministers positively received Hungary’s initiative to make internet access easier by lowering the tax burden, the ministry said.

JÁSZ-PLASZTIK UNDERTAKES HUF 2.9 BN CAPACITY EXPANSION

Hungarian-owned Jász-Plasztik announced plans to spend 2.9 billion forints to boost capacity. The company has won a 1.4 billion forint state grant for the investment.

Source: MTI