Finance Minister: EU is increasingly lagging in global competition
Minister Varga said Hungary had spent a total of 700 billion forints (EUR 1.8bn) on border protection in recent years.
Minister Varga said Hungary had spent a total of 700 billion forints (EUR 1.8bn) on border protection in recent years.
The ministers discussed the economic situation in their respective countries as well as economic policy developments in the European Union.
Finance Minister Mihály Varga said that since 2017, Hungary has improved its position by 13 places.
Mihály Varga said the support is mainly for boosting competitiveness and efficiency through the purchase of new technology.
Hungary has jumped five places to 42nd in a report published by the Swiss IMD World Competitiveness Center.
Hungary was one of the EU’s economic champions and has a very good chance to come out of this crisis stronger than ever.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Europe has failed to make decisions in recent years to boost its competitiveness.
The foreign minister said the novel coronavirus pandemic presents a historic challenge for the European Union, adding, at the same time, that the coming years “could be all about central Europe”.
The foreign minister said Hungarian companies have recognized that investment gives them the opportunity to gain a competitive edge over their regional and international peers.
In the NBH’s latest competitiveness report, Hungary’s score of 47.4 points on a scale of 0-100 is slightly higher than the average score of the other three Visegrad Group countries.
Péter Szijjártó underlined the importance of connecting Hungary and Slovenia’s electricity and gas pipelines and increasing the number of border crossings.
Mihály Varga, Minister of Finance, said a prime objective would be to expand room for maneuver in economic policymaking and speed up competitiveness measures.
Hungary moved up one spot on the index from last year, when the ranking included 140 countries opposed to the 141 appearing this year.