Hungarian Conservative

The minister highlighted that low inflation has triggered a positive chain reaction in the national economy, with its beneficial effects increasingly felt by Hungarian families and businesses.

On Thursday Minister for National Economy Márton Nagy held a special meeting with representatives from SK ON Hungary and CATL Debrecen, two of the largest and most influential high-tech battery industry companies. The parties reviewed the international situation of the battery industry related to the electric vehicle sector, with particular emphasis on its European context, as well as the challenges facing the sector and the opportunities within the green transition.

After nearly twenty years, Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport is back in the ownership of the Hungarian state. The announcement was made by Minister of National Economy Márton Nagy, who emphasized in a statement that the Hungarian government will work to make the airport one of the best in the world.

Hungarian Minister for National Economy Márton Nagy met with Philipp Haussmann, Deputy Chairman of the German Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations, and Barbara Zollmann, Executive Board Member of the German⁠–⁠Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce on Tuesday at his office. The minister emphasized that Germany is Hungary’s most important economic partner: German companies employ more than 220,000 people in Hungary, and Germany accounts for 24 per cent of Hungary’s foreign trade, making it the country’s number one trading partner.

The financial software developer Taxually, the manufacturing company Continest, and the logistics and transportation company United Shipping Hungaria have even made the top 100 on the Financial Times’ list. Minister of National Economy Márton Nagy hosted the top executives of the thirteen Hungarian companies included on the list for a congratulatory meeting.

Following the example of Wizz Air, Ryanair is relaunching its flights from Budapest to Tel Aviv. Meanwhile, the Hungarian government has confirmed that it is only a matter of days or weeks before Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport becomes majority-owned by the Hungarian state.

Minister for National Economy Márton Nagy presented the new competitiveness strategy for 2024⁠–⁠2030 adopted by the government at a press conference held in Budapest on Monday. According to him, economic growth between 2 to ⁠3 per cent is expected this year.

According to recently released data, the Hungarian economy has surpassed the EU average in 2023, and is poised to be among the leading countries in 2024 as well.

On the margins of the sixth China International Import Expo, Economic Development Minister Márton Nagy held talks with the leaders of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the world’s largest commercial lender, emphasizing Hungary’s aim of becoming a regional financial hub in addition to being the meeting point for Eastern and Western capital and cutting-edge technology.

On the margins of the Hungarian PM’s visit to Huawei’s headquarters in Shenzhen, Minister of Economic Development Márton Nagy and Gao Weijie, the CEO of Huawei Technologies Hungary and the Western Balkans Region signed a memorandum of understanding, further deepening the strategic cooperation between the Hungarian government and Huawei that began in 2013.

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.

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.

Hungary’s goal is to advance to the top ten best-performing countries in the European Union in terms of digital economic and social development by 2030.

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.

At the meeting, the parties agreed to strengthen cooperation. They also shared the view that government support needs to be provided in order to protect Hungary’s strategically important automotive industry and preserve jobs.

The Hungarian economy performed exceptionally well in 2022, despite the economic crisis caused by the war and the harmful sanctions imposed by Brussels.