Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó met prominent figures of the Bavarian region last week, including former Bavarian Minister-President Edmund Stoiber, Bavarian Minister of Economic Affairs Hubert Aiwanger and religious leader Reinhard Marx. FM Szijjártó confirmed that interest in Hungarian contracts was at an all-time high. As an indispensable partner of Bavarian firms, Hungarian trade relations are estimated to be worth as much as 14 billion EUR.
Hungary remains one of the most attractive locations for investors, according to analysts, with many citing the highly-trained workforce, quality training and attractive taxation system as features that stand out.
What’s more, FM Szijjártó reminded that Hungary is among the top ten most important trade partners of Bavaria. While more than five percent of their imports come from Hungary, 35 percent of our exports to Germany flow to Bavaria. According to the latest statistics, Bavarian companies have so far invested 8 billion euros in Hungary and employ roughly 50 thousand people.
But the Bavarian partnership deals are far from the only indicators of an upbeat economy. As a recent report from the European Commission says, Hungary’s economy has been growing steadily for the past couple of years and regularly exceeding forecasts.
This year, for example, the Commission has adjusted its GDP growth predictions upward by 0.7 percentage points, to 4.4 percent.
Alongside thousands of jobs created by foreign investments, the car industry and the real estate sector have also shown noteworthy development. Some 8 billion HUF in entrepreneurial activities have also contributed to the creation of thousands of jobs and, as such, to a whopping 10.4 percent wage increase in the first quarter of 2019.
Though investments are expected to slow down somewhat, other sectors, and most importantly, domestic trade is anticipated to help maintain the robust rate of economic growth.