Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said that around 200 Spanish companies employ some 50,000 people in Hungary, and continue to invest in the country.
Minister Szijjártó met the heads of Spanish car manufacturing, tourism, traffic, air transport, finance and energy companies for talks on further investments in Hungary earlier on Tuesday in Madrid. “It was good to hear the feedback of Spanish companies, many of whom see Hungary’s economic strategy and the government’s economic policy as an example. Hungary’s attraction lies in its low taxes, an investor-friendly economic environment and well-trained workforce,” Szijjártó said. Hungary has overcome last year’s economic difficulties created by the war, sanctions and the resulting inflation, Szijjártó said. “We have broken down inflation, maintained energy security and record employment, and proved that Hungary’s economy is operational without EU funds. The trust and investments of Spanish companies have been a great help,” he added. After talks with Spanish counterpart José Manuel Albares later on Tuesday, the ministry cited Szijjártó talking about Hungarian-Spanish economic relations and welcoming last year’s record trade volume of 6 billion euros. He said he had met the leaders of several Spanish companies that had made investments in Hungary and they all expressed satisfaction about the business environment. Szijjártó also said that over 300,000 Hungarians had visited Spain last year, and more than 200,000 Spanish tourists had come to Hungary, both numbers increasing over 40%.