Orbán cabinet approves Debrecen’s ten-year development programme – UPDATE

The government has approved a 600 billion forint (EUR 1.73bn) ten-year development plan for Debrecen to consolidate the city’s position as the centre of eastern Hungary, the innovation and technology minister said on Tuesday.

“Turning Debrecen within a reasonable period of time into a point of reference for the neighbouring countries is a key objective,” László Palkovics said in the local Kolcsey cultural centre.

The programme dubbed Debrecen 2030 has five pillars that include the economy, transport, education, culture and urban development, he said.

It includes expanding the city’s international airport, continuing the construction of an eastern highway ring and moving the Natural Science Museum from Budapest to the city, the minister said.

It also includes earlier announced projects, namely the 130 billion forint infrastructure development of the city’s north-western industrial park and the 35 billion forint education development projects.

During the first phase of the programme, in 2021-2023, a further 50 billion forints will be allocated for developing the infrastructure of the city and its university, Palkovics told MTI.

Beside central funding, the programme will also use municipal, cohesion and market resources, he said.

Mayor László Papp qualified the programme as a complex and comprehensive strategy aimed at developing the city which he said “will be of decisive importance for the rest of the century”.

Debrecen is Hungary’s first large city with a development programme for the next ten years.

Later in the day, the minister attended the groundbreaking ceremony of a pilot vaccine plant and innovation centre in the industrial park. The project will use a budget of 8 billion forints.

Zoltán Szilvássy, the head of Debrecen University, said at the ceremony that the project was aimed at a “unique innovation plaza” with mostly health industry and car industry laboratories.

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Source: MTI