Hungarian Conservative

According to the Hungarian Prime Minister, it is ‘easy to predict’ that Vietnam will emerge as one of the winners of the coming era. ‘Such transformations herald opportunities as well as risks. We see the new world economic era as an enormous opportunity for Hungary, since Hungarians are an Eastern people by origin,’ Viktor Orbán nailed down.

Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky announced in a video on his Facebook page that the Hungarian government is partnering with the German automotive and arms manufacturer Rheinmetall in a deal to develop ‘state-of-the-art, latest-generation’ tanks for the defence industry.

According to a statement from the ministry, Péter Szijjártó stressed that the German-owned ZF Chassis Modules Hungary Ltd will manufacture shock absorbers, as well as front and rear axles for electric cars produced from 2025 at the BMW plant in Debrecen and the Mercedes plant in Kecskemét.

This year, Hungary is set to break both investment and export records, with incoming foreign direct investment doubling from the previous year to €13 billion and Hungarian exports increasing from €142 billion in 2022 to €150 billion.

During the inauguration of the British-owned GKN Automotive Hungary Ltd. factory, the minister highlighted that the company, specializing in manufacturing automotive components, will serve BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Suzuki, and Volkswagen through the newly built facility within the framework of the approximately 52-billion-forint greenfield investment.

From the inception of post-Soviet Hungary, East Asian relations have been oriented towards trade as well as knowledge and information exchange. With the opening up of the Hungarian economy, foreign direct investment (FDI) began to flow in from Taiwan, China, and India, and was widely distributed over a diverse range of sectors including finance, retail, mining, and those that this article focuses on: automotive manufacturing and logistics.

Mihály Varga recalled that during the pandemic, it became evident that Hungary needed to increase its self-sufficiency in the health industry. Therefore, in 2020, the government launched the Healthcare Industry Support Programme, which, among others, has now facilitated Medicor’s investment.

The facility aims to produce 700–800 million aluminium beverage cans annually, with approximately half of them filled, mainly to meet the demands of local and regional third-party brands. Additionally, the company plans to serve its own local and regional markets from this plant.

AI-based developments are a focal area of the Hungarian branch of the Bosch Group. The company employs this technology in various areas at its Hungarian sites, playing a significant role in manufacturing processes, whether it is data analysis for production optimisation, optical inspection of certain processes, or planning maintenance for production line equipment.

After the completion of the investment, the Chinese–Hungarian joint venture, Jiangsu Magnus Aircraft Manufacturing, is expected to create a total of 300 jobs, with Hungarian employees playing a leading role.

Péter Szijjártó declared that it is no longer an exaggeration to speak of the mutually respect-based cooperation between Audi and Győr, and Audi and Hungary as a true success story.

For the seventh consecutive year, the company maintained a leading position in Hungary’s new car sales, achieving a market share of nearly 12.5 per cent with approximately 14,000 registered new cars in 2022. This means that every eighth new car in the country bore the Suzuki logo.

‘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.

The six years since the start of Apollo Tyres’ operations in Hungary have been characterised by exceptionally close cooperation and good relations between the company and the Hungarian government.