Economic development minister addresses German-Hungarian industry chamber event

Marton Nagy noted that the government had launched the 700 billion forint (EUR 1.84bn) Baross Gabor Reindustrialisation Credit Programme, which gives businesses access to cheap investment and working capital loans.

He augured tightening competition for foreign direct investment and said the government needed to maintain existing economic support programmes, while coming up with new ones, too.

The government is drafting a scheme to boost investment activity with the purchase of privately-owned companies, the recapitalisation of existing capacities and the establishment of new businesses, Nagy said. The details of the scheme, dubbed Baross Gabor Capital Programme, will be revealed “within a few weeks”, he added.

The minister noted that Hungary had attracted 10 billion euros worth of FDI last year, “even in the face of all kinds of difficulty”.

Nagy said analysts expected Germany to avoid a recession, adding that even if the German economy stagnated this year, that translated as growth of 2 percent for Hungary.

He said the government was consulting on a regular basis with industry insiders on what they needed to advance further and had held talks with representatives of pharmaceutical companies already, to be followed by meetings with representatives from the insurance, automotive and shared services sectors.