President János Áder has highlighted the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises when building economies.
The president made the remarks during the World Export Development Forum (WEDF), where he was joined by Péter Szijjártó, minister of Foreign Affiars and Trade.
Minister Szijjártó confirmed that one of the Hungarian government’s goals is to radically increase the weight of small and medium-sized enterprises in exports.
“For this reason, the government is facilitating an increase in these companies’ competitiveness, as well as providing support to enable these enterprises to be included in the supply networks of large, multinational companies," he said.
“The water economy, agriculture and the pharmaceutical industry are the sectors in which Hungarian enterprises can best compete on foreign markets," the minister added.
He also pointed out that the Hungarian economy is heavily dependent on foreign trade, with a current export-to-GDP ratio of over 90 percent.
“Countries are in tough competition with each other with regard to both exports and investments," the minister said.
"Hungary has entered this competition by providing Europe’s lowest rate of corporation and personal income tax, and by supporting international enterprises that would like to invest here and companies that would like to market their products abroad," he added.
The minister added that Hungary’s post-2010 policies have proven that it is possible to improve fiscal discipline while at the same time improving economic growth, thus "disproving the economic dogma according to which one must choose between the two," he said.