Parliament has adopted the law on the economic cooperation agreement between Hungary and the United Arab Emirates with 134 votes in favor, 43 against and 6 abstentions.
According to MTI, the agreement comprises cooperation in industry, trade, investments, tourism, logistics and related sectors, and specifically mentions the property development at the Rákosrendező railway station in Budapest. Under the agreement, the government pledged to sell the area to the company assigned for the project by the UAE and to ensure the necessary infrastructural development. The UAE, meanwhile, will incite the company to invest 5 billion euros in the area, including the construction of a railway station. Commenting on the law, Dávid Vitézy, the opposition LMP’s mayoral candidate for Budapest, said Budapest needed “affordable housing and high-quality green surfaces rather than new shopping malls and luxury areas”. He said “parliament gave 130 hectares to Arab investors without conditions or expectations, or without stating the function or the height of the district to be built there.” Most of the necessary transport investments are not ensured in the agreement, and will partly be built from taxpayers’ money, he said.