Minister: German-Hungarian economic cooperation ‘clear success story’

Economic cooperation between Germany and Hungary is “a clear success story” which Hungary is prepared to continue regardless of the makeup of the German government, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign affairs and trade minister, said on Thursday.

Not even the coronavirus pandemic could impair cooperation between German businesses and Hungary, the foreign ministry cited Szijjártó as saying at the annual year-opener of the German-Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DUIHK).

Since the start of the pandemic, the Hungarian government has supported

451 million euros’ worth of investments by 101 German companies with grants totalling 146 million euros, helping to preserve 59,000 jobs,

the minister said.

Over the last eight years, government has supported the combined investments of 7.3 billion euros by 158 German companies that have created over 30,000 jobs, he added.

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Bilateral trade turnover reached a record high last year, exceeding 50 billion euros he said. The roughly 6,000 German companies doing business in Hungary employ some 300,000 people, he added.