Visegrád Group economy ministers have signed a memorandum of understanding on industrial policy cooperation.
During the signing, held in Budapest on Thursday, the MoU was signed by minister for National Economy Mihály Varga, Czech Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Vladimir Bartl, Poland’s Deputy Minister of Entrepreneurship and Technology Marcin Ociepa, and Slovak State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy Rastislav Chovanec.
“It is our goal for the region to become a flagship for the development of robotic and artificial intelligence in the coming decade,” Minister Varga said at the signing ceremony.
The minister added that the MoU was about raising V4 industrial policy cooperation to a new level, creating a common platform for managing manufacturing-commerce links, as well as harnessing advances in digital technologies, Industry 4.0 and the spread of robotics.
Minister Varga said one aim was to increasingly converge V4 industrial policies via the spheres of automotive and mechanical engineering.
He revealed that in recent years, the average growth rate in the Visegrád countries has surpassed that of the EU. Varga noted that EU growth was 2.4 percent last year versus the V4’s 4.3 percent.
"The region’s economies are catching up with the EU and gaining economic weight in the process," he said.
“It is the joint task of the Visegrád governments to support access to regional and global markets for promising SMEs operating in the region,” he added.
The minister also said Hungary backs the initiative to connect the V4 capital cities, Warsaw, Prague, Bratislava and Budapest via high-speed rail.