Agriculture Minister István Nagy said the Hungarian government, through the European Union's common agricultural policy (CAP), will spend HUF 4,265 billion (EUR 11.8bn) on the development of Hungary's rural areas, its agriculture and food industry until 2027.
The minister said the government has decided to raise government co-financing to EU funds to 80 percent from 2021, tripling it from the 17.5 percent of previous years, to achieve such “historic amounts of funding”.
Within the framework of CAP’s other pillar, aimed to provide income supplements, Hungary will receive a further HUF 3,272 billion of EU funding, Nagy said. The total funding for the sector, including EU and domestic resources, will amount to EUR 7,537 billion in the next financial cycle, the statement added.
The “unprecedented” funding will be used to further improve infrastructure in villages and small towns, for market-oriented modernization of the food industry and an environmentally friendly upgrade of Hungarian agriculture, Nagy said.
“One of the greatest challenges of the next decade … is to develop rural areas and the quality of life of the people living there, to create locally available jobs, infrastructure and services that are attractive for young people as well,” he concluded.
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