Orbán: Hungarian government aiming to import ‘the most developed’ industries

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán pledged to introduce the most developed industries to Hungary at the inauguration of a MOL complex in Tiszaújaváros, in north-eastern Hungary, on Tuesday.

Orbán talks about new industries

Orbán said the country’s electricity demand would increase by 50 percent by 2030 due to the new industries. “We will have Eastern and Western car plants, technologies and production capacities to store green energy, we will participate in space research and link Hungary to the [international] bloodstream of the most modern information technologies,” the prime minister said.

In addition, Hungary has ambitions to build the most modern defence industry in Europe, and develop its food, pharmaceutical and chemical industries to a higher level, he said.

Orbán said the government’s industrial policies would ensure that the industry was supplied with sufficient energy and a well-trained labour force.

Concerning the Tiszaújváros plant, he said value-added jobs were being created, “providing a secure, predictable future for 300 people”.

Hungary is in the process of diversifying its energy resources to make itself less dependent on global market trends, Orbán said. Hungary imports gas from Qatar, it will buy green energy from Azerbaijan, increase its solar energy capacities, while the upgrade of the Paks power plant is under way, he added.

A crucial component of the Hungarian government’s industrial strategy is to provide incentives to Hungarian businesses entering foreign markets. “Hungarian industry has grown so big that Hungary is now too small,” he said.

Currently 12,000 Hungarian companies are active abroad or make products for export, and the government is planning to “create or subsidise another 5,000” to achieve a similar status, the prime minister said, adding that a relevant scheme would soon be announced.

The government’s industrial strategy “is a good one”, Orbán said, adding that MOL had an important role. “Just like MOL, the industrial strategy is ambitious … but with both feet on the ground,” he said.

MOL, Orbán said, “has taken the same path as the Hungarian economy, having a single focus 20 years ago, trading in crude oil; now it is spreading in the region, it has a biogas and diesel plant, it has entered the haulier market and it has become a crucial player in waste management.”

The company’s new polyol plant will produce the “Swiss knife of plastics manufacturing”, good for the automotive industry, furniture production, the construction sector and textile manufacturing, he noted.

The prime minister noted that MOL already had two plants in Tiszaújváros, built with support from Japanese investors, while the new polyol plant had taken over technology from Germany’s Thyssenkrupp. “MOL is Hungary’s largest and most successful company … when they build something … it is built solid,” Orbán added.

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