“Within the framework of the Rural Development Programme, we are mainly funding the realisation of innovative ideas that are centred of job creation”, Deputy Agriculture Minister István Nagy said at a professional conference in Szarvas.
“Funding for new start-ups by young farmers and the establishment and reinforcement of short supply chains are being given major emphasis within the Rural Development programme”, Mr. Nagy highlighted.
“The annual output of Hungarian agriculture is around 2600 billion forints (EUR 8.3bn). An almost similar amount, some 2400 billion forints (EUR 7.7bn) are being directly applied to the development of the agriculture sector until 2020 using available agriculture and rural development funding. The remaining 1300-1500 billion forints are being used to finance the Rural Development programme”, he declared.
Mr. Nagy stressed that the adjudication of Rural Development Programme tenders has recently been accelerated, and tenders relating to increasing the value of agricultural products and facilitating their resource-efficiency within processing, and on the external reconstruction of buildings that determine the image of settlements with the establishment, development and energy-efficient modernisation of a multi-functional community space, are both in the finishing straight. “According to the experience so far, the originally announced budget is expected to be sufficient for both tenders”, he added.
The Deputy Minister said the technological development of enterprises operating within Hungary’s agrarian and food economies, and improving the competitiveness and profitability of small and medium-sized enterprises and family farms, is of key importance. “Experience indicates that there is major worldwide interest in outstanding Hungarian agriculture and food industry products”, he said.