The Foreign Minister has announced that Hungary's GDP growth rate of 5 percent makes it the fastest-growing country in the European Union.
During a factory opening in Debrecen on Wednesday, Péter Szijjártó attended the inauguration of a 15 billion HUF (EUR 45m) plant built by German packaging and bottling machine manufacturer Krones. The Minister said the investment, which created 500 jobs, was supported with a 5.5 billion HUF grant by the Hungarian government.
During the event, the Minister also touched on Hungary’s economy. Minister Szijjártó said that in recent years Hungary has gone from being a production-oriented economy to a technology-oriented one, adding that by bringing the unemployment rate down to 3.3 percent, the country has “practically achieved full employment”.
The Minister called Hungary “one of the most competitive countries”, pointing out that while it ranked only 92nd in terms of the size of its population, it was the world’s 34th largest exporter.
Minister Szijjártó pointed out that Hungary is one of 35 countries whose annual export volume exceeds 100 billion euros. In the first half of the year, investors took decisions on implementing 43 major projects in Hungary with a combined value of 731 billion forints, he said, adding that three of those projects would be implemented in Debrecen.
Photo credit: Portfolio