Finance Minister Mihály Varga has confirmed that the United States is the biggest non-European investor in Hungary and also its biggest non-European export partner.
After attending a business forum of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hungary, the minister revealed that about 1,700 US companies employ around 106,000 people in the country and 14 of the Hungarian government’s strategic partners are US-owned. The minister said bilateral trade grew by 2.3 percent to 5.8 billion dollars in 2019.
According to MTI, Minister Varga noted that the US-Hungary Business Council was informed earlier this month about ongoing talks on investment projects that US companies are planning to implement in Hungary.
Figures from the National Bank of Hungary (NBH) show the total value of US investments came to EUR 11.6 billion. The minister said the government agreed on 101 large investments with foreign and Hungarian companies in 2019, with a combined value of HUF 1,705 billion (EUR 4.7bn), or 4 percent of the country’s GDP last year.
The government supported these investments with grants worth HUF 156 billion. Hungary continues to have an excellent investment ratio, at 27.6 percent in the second quarter of 2020, Minister Varga said.
Photo credit: Hír TV