Hungary’s foreign minister has said that the government does not consider the expression “patriotic economic policy” a negative one, as this is the kind of economic policy the Hungarian government itself pursues.
Péter Szijjártó said the past year had brought significant economic and political changes, during his speech at the Investor of the Year Gala, organized by the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA) in Budapest.
According to MTI, the minister named the US presidential election as the most significant political change of 2016, in which he said American voters had elected a president who would pursue a “far more patriotic” economic policy than his predecessors did.
Hungary has also introduced the lowest corporate tax rate in the European Union at 9 percent and brought the payroll tax down to 22 percent from 27 percent, which he said could be reduced further in the future.
Minister Szijjártó said that Hungary would place more emphasis on technology-intensive investment projects that produce more value added, promoting a shift from “Made in Hungary” to “Invented in Hungary”.
In 2016, more than ever, foreign investors chose Hungary as a site of investment. In the framework of 71 projects altogether 3.2 billion euros of FDI arrived in the country to create a total 17,647 jobs.
German carmaker Mercedes-Benz was acknowledged for the biggest greenfield investment. The award for biggest expansion went to Samsung SDI Hungary. While, LEGO Manufacturing was recognized for an expansion that created the most jobs.