Minister Szijjártó reopened Hungarian consulate in Stuttgart

The success of the Hungarian economy depends greatly on the production and research capacities investors bring to the country, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign affairs and trade minister, told public media on Wednesday.

Szijjártó: Incoming production, research capacities crucial for Hungarian economy

Hungary “has reason to be confident” after continuously seeing record investments over the last five years, Szijjártó said in Germany. Hungary “undoubtedly provides the most competitive and most favourable” investment environment in central Europe, he added.

And this will be further improved by a new comprehensive investment scheme launching next week, now that it has been green-lit by the European Commission, the minister said.

The scheme will allow the government to provide an unlimited amount of funding in support of business investments to companies that commit to saving jobs, covering up to 50 percent of their investments, Szijjártó said. In addition, Hungary has lowered the social contribution tax by two percentage points, allowing employers to spend the money saved on salary increases or to invest it, he said.

• Hungary’s online tax returns system applies to all businesses from now on

The minister said

Baden-Wuerttemberg was Hungary’s second most important partner state in Germany, with 290 companies based there doing business in Hungary.

The government is in talks with these companies on potential capacity expansions in Hungary, he added.

Hungary to enter ‘capacity restructuring competition’

Hungary is working to win new investments in a “competition of capacity restructuring” starting as economies reopen after coronavirus-related lockdowns, FM Szijjártó said on Facebook on Wednesday.

While reopening their plants, investors may consider moving production from one plant to another, Szijjártó said. Hungary is working to be a beneficiary of that “capacity restructuring”, he said.

Germany is Hungary’s most important European partner,

and companies in Baden-Wuerttemberg such as Mercedes, Bosch and others employ some 70,000 Hungarians, Szijjártó said.

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Source: MTI