Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said capital accumulated in Hungary seeks investment opportunities abroad.
At the opening of a Hungary-Republika Srpska business forum in Banja Luka on Friday, PM Orbán told the event that there used to be two borders between Hungary and Bosnia and Herzegovina, but “we have abolished one, there is no Croatian-Hungarian border, there is Schengen”. The Hungarian motorway will soon reach the Croatian border and “the Croatians are making efforts, too” so the two countries will soon be connected by a motorway, he added. He said the dynamics of the European economy were now in the Balkans, “where people want to and can work”. He also pointed to the developed industrial and farming culture there, as in Hungary, and acknowledged efforts to cooperate. PM Orbán noted that Hungary’s economy was 70% smaller 14 years earlier than today and that the country now had “regional champions” and around 1,500 companies capable of investing abroad. He added that it was important for Hungarian companies to win the approval of locals by investing in areas where development was needed. Hungary also welcomes Serb workers and businesses, he said.