Orbán signs Modern Cities partnership with Győr

Győr, April 28 (MTI) – Prime Minister Viktor Orbán signed on Friday a cooperation agreement with Zsolt Borkai, mayor of Gyor, in western Hungary, under the government’s Modern Cities development programme.

“Győr has contributed a lot to Hungary’s economic strength, not only in terms of tax revenues but self-confidence as well,” Orbán said after the signing ceremony in the city.

Under the agreement, the government will provide funding for completion of a ring road around Győr and the upgrade of road 8311, as well as construction of a new bridge, Orbán said. Further projects will include renewing the local National Theatre, construction of a concert hall and conference centre, a new bicycle road to Pannonhalma, renovation of the coach and railway stations, and building a new ambulance centre, the prime minister said.

Orbán also pledged assistance for building a four-lane road to the Slovak border as part of a planned link between Győr and Dunajska Streda (Dunaszerdahely) in Slovakia.

Photo: MTI

The government will also promote the expansion of Győr University, a project about which Orbán said: “Our governments don’t usually close down universities; rather, they tend to found new ones” in reference to recent criticism over the government’s higher education law seen as impacting Budapest’s Central European University.

Answering a question about labour shortage in the region, Orbán said that high-level vocational and university education was needed, as well as higher pay and a strategy to address negative demographic trends. He insisted that “the country is very close to full employment”, adding that “valuable labour could soon be in demand” not only in eastern Hungary but in the west, too. In the long run, it is not a good solution to resolve Győr’s labour shortage by recruiting workers from the east, he added.

Concerning demographics, Orbán said that after next year’s election, which he said he hoped “would be okay”, the government would “adopt straightforward and serious economic and social policies targeting demographic growth”.

Photo: MTI

Source: MTI