The government has revealed that the United States has become Hungary's number one export market outside the European Union. Péter Szijjártó, minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said exports increased by 11 percent in January of this year.
“1,710 American companies are employing some 100,000 people in Hungary," Minister Szijjártó highlighted, adding that he hoped Dana Hungary Limited’s new 13,000 square meter factory in Győr, which is being built with an investment of 46 million euros, would serve to further reinforce Hungarian-American economic cooperation.
The minister also spoke about the fact that America is the source of policy changes that are having a major effect on the global economy. He cited as an example the fact that the US is expected to pursue “much more patriotic politics” in the coming years, which according to the Hungarian government is perfectly normal.
“Accordingly, the most important task for the world’s countries is to create an environment that leads to the establishment of the most attractive, best and most competitive investment environment," he said. “This is also the goal of the Hungarian government, and Dana’s latest investment, which is receiving 2.9 billion HUF (9.4m EUR) in funding from the government, corresponds to this endeavor," the minister said.
Minister Szijjártó explained that this was why Hungary had introduced the lowest level of corporation tax in Europe and is significantly reducing the level of social contributions payable by employers from 27 to 22 percent this year, and from 22 to 20 percent next year.
Hungary has also introduced a new tax benefit according to which companies can deduct twice the sum they spend on research and development from their taxable base, he added.