Hungarian Conservative

The minister reminded all that the independent Hungarian Ministry of Finance was the first lasting success of the revolution. In April 1848, Lajos Kossuth began working on the establishment of the ministry, and it started its operations in May of that year.

Gergely Gulyás explained that since the previous cabinet took office in 2018, numerous changes have occurred in world politics and the economy, and the government elected in 2022 had to face completely different challenges than it did four years earlier.

‘University of Debrecen Foundation Board of Trustees chairman György Kossa said that when two global brands, BMW and DE, come together, it sends a strong message to the students studying at the university, and to the residents of the region as well.’

The new Task Force set up by the Finance Ministry has been portrayed as a sign of austerity measures to come by the opposition media, however, the Ministry has debunked these speculations in a press release. In their statement, the Ministry assures the people of Hungary that family support schemes and the utility price cap will remain in place.

In a recent interview with business news site Világgazdaság, Hungarian Tourism Agency CEO Péter Horváth highlighted that the number of guest nights booked by foreign visitors to Hungary is on the rise, while domestic tourism has shrunk, which is in line with international trends in the industry. On the whole, however, the total number of nights booked has increased by four per cent in the first five months compared to last year.

The most significant Hungarian Christian response to Pope Francis’ Economy of Francesco initiative and his peace mission has been the launching of the ‘Noon Bell – Pulsatio Meridiana, the Voice of Oikophilia’ regenerative economic platform (PM), which is planned to be listed on the Budapest Stock Exchange.

The authority was established to protect the money of European Union taxpayers, making sure that it is spent appropriately and in a targeted fashion. However, their goal is more ambitious, aiming to initiate a kind of cultural change in the economy, where the parties involved can and want to say no to corruption challenges.

Márton Nagy described Hungary’s achievements in technology and knowledge transfer as remarkable. According to the Global Innovation Index, Hungary ranks 7th in terms of the utilisation of knowledge in the local economy.

In his video message sent to the conference taking place in Yibin, China, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó praised the mutually beneficial strategic cooperation between Hungary and China, and called Hungary ‘a meeting point of Western and Eastern investors’.

In a press statement released following his meeting with President Serdar Berdymukhammedov, Viktor Orbán said ‘we need energy to come to Europe from Central Asia,’ and for this, new sources, new routes, and new infrastructure are needed. Turkmenistan can be a ‘great partner’ for Europe and Hungary in this regard, the PM stated.

Speaking at the EU-PED Day of the university, on which all educators working in Hungarian-language tertiary education are celebrated, Mihály Varga reminded that the goal of the government with the transformation of higher education and the introduction of dual education was for universities to become ‘intellectual centres that define and broaden the country’s development opportunities.’

Viktor Orbán and Timotheus Höttges agreed that digitalisation is a crucial factor for maintaining Hungary’s and Europe’s competitiveness, and the Hungarian government and Deutsche Telekom continue to consider each other strategic partners in this regard.

During his joint press conference with his Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen, Péter Szijjártó said the cooperation between the two countries has always been characterized by mutual respect. Hungary has always supported the right of the Jewish state to self-defence and to guaranteeing its security, the minister nailed down.

State Secretary for European Affairs János Bóka is confident that about one-third, €13 billion, of the withheld EU funds will be received by Hungary by 2027. The London-based Financial Times, in a piece covering the contentious negotiations, seems to agree with his assertion.

The Hungarian government has implemented measures to protect Hungarian families and businesses against high inflation. As a result, the inflation data in recent months indicate a systematic, continuous, and visible decrease in inflation.

According to the minister, representatives presented the delegation with the regulations and fundamental aspects of the spending of EU funds, followed by questions from the committee members. However, Navracsics noted that it was apparent the delegation had not read the background materials sent to them in advance for more detailed information. Also, in some cases, the opinion of certain representatives was heavily influenced by political biases, resulting in occasional factual errors during their questioning.

In its Tuesday report, the bank estimated a real growth of 0.4 per cent for 2023 and 3.5 per cent for 2024 in Hungary. The bank increased its estimate for the Hungarian Gross Domestic Product growth this year by 0.6 percentage points and raised the growth projection for next year by a full percentage point.

‘If the European Union views China as a rival, it will lose out. It has become evident in recent years that China has a competitive advantage in many areas of the economy,’ the minister declared. He emphasised that if the EU wants to benefit from its relationship with China, it should focus on cooperation based on mutual trust, respect, and benefits rather than rivalry.

On the first day of his trip to Seoul, László Kövér emphasised that in 2020, 130 Korean companies employed 15,206 people in Hungary, and the Hungarian government has several strategic agreements with Korean companies.

Péter Szijjártó emphasised that except for Germany and China, Hungary is the only country where all three German luxury car brands have factories, and three of the world’s top ten electric battery manufacturers are already present in Hungary.

Péter Szijjártó welcomed Novartis’ announcement that the Swiss pharmaceutical company is establishing a new regional research and development centre in Budapest, from where it will coordinate its research projects in Southern Europe and Africa.

According to the law sponsored by the justice minister, an extended state of emergency is needed to handle the humanitarian catastrophe caused by the war in Ukraine and to tackle the economic consequences of the armed conflict. The bill was designed to ‘ensure all means to assist and accommodate refugees, fence off the negative economic impacts.. and help the country leave behind the effects of the war as soon as possible,’ the draft legislation’s preamble said.

The Hungarian economy is among the most open ones, however, it is following technological advancements relatively slowly. This could be dangerous, but if Hungary adopts state-of-the-art technology with the help of public investments, there is a great opportunity for development.

In Matolcsy’s understanding, the current debate on the theoretical and practical side of the economy is caused by the difference between ‘the former liberal approach and the currently rising approach based on sustainability’, the contrast of which is compounded by, or more precisely triggered and culminated by, ‘the clash of Western and Eastern, i.e. Asian, positions’. The author clearly takes a stand against Western neoliberalism and is in favour of a Eurasian shift.

The minister announced that the government has imposed a ban on 25 agricultural products from Ukraine, including grain, sunflower seeds, cooking oil, and specific meat products until 30 June. He also noted that while according to the European Commission, Ukrainian grain exports should be facilitated to ease the food shortage in Africa, these imports could ‘ruin the Hungarian agricultural market instead’.

Péter Szijjártó noted that the so-called post-Cotonou agreement, planned between the European Union and the African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group, has three pillars: economic cooperation, migration, and other issues, such as sexual rights. ‘Hungary clearly agrees that economic cooperation should be tightened, which would be beneficial for both parties, especially nowadays when the world is moving towards the formation of blocs again,’ he said, adding, however, that regarding the issue of migration and sexual rights, the Hungarian government has serious doubts and red lines.

Corvinus University of Budapest is the only institution in Hungary to have been awarded the international BSIS certification for its contribution to local and regional socio-economic development.

The foreign minister emphasised right after winter, ‘in Europe, it is fashionable to strut about with great bravado these days,’ but the International Energy Agency recently issued an ‘ominous’ report indicating that the most severe difficulties are expected to come in the next heating season when supply security will be critical.

After reviewing the energy situation at the cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the government determined that all necessary resources are at its disposal to keep in place the utility cost reduction programme for households with average energy consumption.

To make the process of reducing inflation as strong and significant as possible, all possible tools must be used, they added. For this reason, in collaboration with the government, the Hungarian Competition Authority is establishing an online price monitoring system based on international examples, which contributes to increasing market competition and preventing overpricing.