“Foreign-owned companies and investments are absolutely safe in Hungary, we are an extremely investor-friendly and open country”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó, who is on an official visit to London, told CNBC on Wednesday in a live interview.
Mr. Szijjártó was replying to a question from one of the television hosts concerning what in the Minister’s view foreign investors should think about the Hungarian environment when he arrived at their meeting in London wearing a friendly, diplomat’s smile, but in recent years the Government in Budapest has been engaged in a protectionist economic policy with measures aimed at forcing many foreign companies, primarily banks, out of the country.
“If we look at the ratio of direct investment to gross domestic product (GDP), then Hungary has the highest value in Central Europe. If we look at how high the ratio of exports is to GDP, it’s almost one hundred percent”, the Foreign Minister explained. “As far as I know British companies are very satisfied with the conditions in Hungary and many of them, including British Telecom and British Petroleum (BP), are planning to invest in the country. Hungary has strategic partnership agreements with Tesco, Vodafone and GlaxoSmithKline Beecham, and these companies make regular investments in Hungary”, he declared.
“There are currently seven hundred and seventy one British-owned companies operating in Hungary, which employ a total of 48,900 people. Accordingly it is in Hungary’s interests to maintain a close relationship and close cooperation with Great Britain”, he added.
“Budapest’s standpoint is that during negotiations between Great Britain and the European Union on Britain’s exiting of the EU (Brexit), extremely close trade and economic cooperation must be developed for the period when the United Kingdom is no longer a member of the EU”, Mr. Szijjártó said.
With relation to the fact that London would like to limit the number of foreign nationals living and working in the UK, Mr. Szijjártó stressed: “During Brexit negotiations Hungary will be striving to protect the rights of Hungarians and other EU citizens working in the UK”.
In reply to a question on whether Hungary was also to blame for Brexit because it “relied on anti-migration and anti-refugee populist sentiments” and does not want to participate in the proportional distribution of refugees between Member States, the Hungarian Foreign Minister said: “We must not confuse the fact that EU citizens are living and working in Great Britain with huge masses of people from outside the EU entering the territory of the European Union illegally”. “The debate in Europe on the migration crisis is being held on an emotional basis, but a solution cannot be found in this way. Rational action can only be taken based on international law. And international law does not state that refugees have the right to decide what country they would like to live in”, he stated.
One of the hosts asked the Hungarian Foreign Minister if he thought Hungary had a long-term future within the EU based on the European Union’s current operating principles or whether there was a chance that Hungary would end up like Great Britain, which having been unable to change these operating principles now finds itself outside the organisation.
In reply, Mr. Szijjártó said: “Brexit is not the cause of developments in the EU, but a result of them. There is a consensus within the European Union concerning the fact that its operating principles and institutions must be reformed, because it is bureaucratic and because its competitiveness is falling compared to the rest of the world. Hungary’s standpoint is that we need a strong Europe and a strong integration, but that this can only be achieved if it is built on strong Member States”. “Regardless of this, Hungary has always had a place in Europe, and has and will continue to have a place within the European Union, and the country’s citizens would also like Hungary to be a member of the European Union”, Mr. Szijjártó declared.