Orbán’s cabinet: BMW factory in Debrecen sign of stable ties with Germany

The factory German car manufacturer BMW will build in Debrecen demonstrates the long-term stability and strength of Hungarian-German relations, Gergely Gulyás, head of the Prime Minister’s Office, said on Tuesday.

BMW announced late last month that it would build an over 1 billion euro factory for the production of conventional and electric cars in the eastern Hungarian city with a workforce of 1,000.

The facility will herald a new phase of development in Debrecen and eastern Hungary as a whole, Gulyás said.

For that matter, demand could push up real estate prices by up to 40 percent within 3-4 years once German carmaker BMW starts production in its new factory in Debrecen.

In response to a question, he said the state contribution to the project would exceed 10 billion forints (EUR 31.1m) and involve the same types of subsidies granted for other similar projects.

Hungarian-German political ties should also remain strong and both countries have a vested interest in developing them, which was also the reason of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s recent visit to Berlin, he said. Gulyás added that he would also visit the German capital, on August 29.

On another subject, he said that according to cautious estimates, the staff of Hungary’s central public administration will be cut by 15-20 percent by late this year to raise the efficiency of the system.

The ministries and their background institutions employ fewer than 14,000 people but this number can be further reduced, he said, adding that the measures aim to eliminate overlaps as digitalisation enables fewer staff members to perform the same tasks.

Commenting on the decision to discontinue state-funded courses on gender studies in Hungarian colleges and universities from next September, Gulyás said a review of the low number of applicants serves as a sufficient reason for the decision. The government’s position is that people are born man or woman and live a life of their choice, he said. The state, however, is unwilling to finance any education in this field, he said.

Source: MTI