Commenting on the latest foreign trade statistics published on Wednesday, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said at a press conference on Monday that foreign trade factors can effectively support the performance of national economy.
According to latest data of Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) Hungarian exports increased by 12.9 per cent to EUR 8.3 billion in March; since April 2013, this is the first time that an increase of double digits has been recorded.
Mr. Szijjártó emphasised that as an open economy, Hungary cannot afford not using its set of foreign policy tools to achieve foreign trade and thus national economic objectives. This is why the Government has decided to pursue a foreign trade oriented foreign policy, he said.
The Minister expressed his satisfaction over the fact that parallel to the nearly 13 per cent increase of Hungarian exports, external assets were as high as EUR 929 million in March.
He pointed out that the leading factor of the national economy is the automobile industry. It is therefore no coincidence that the most strategic partnership agreements of the Government were signed with actors of the automobile industry.
These companies employ sixty-four thousand people, and negotiations on further investments – accounting for another 3800 jobs – are on-going, he said.
Since signing the strategic partnership agreements with companies active in the automobile industry, 9400 more people are employed in the sector, he added.
The Minister stressed that the performance of the sector is constantly improving: its share in the processing industry was over 30 per cent this year, following a 27 per cent rate last year. The Government regards the automobile industry as a complex economic development sector, Mr. Szijjártó said, adding that if its performance increases, sectors of the supply industry can also grow.
In order to maintain the outstanding foreign trade trend, we must also keep the pace in the race in the field of research and development, where the international competition for major investments is a “killer” one. This is why the Government has decided to double the amount of EU funds available for research and development in the 2014-2020 period, he noted.
The Minister added that having a sufficient pool of skilled labour force available is indispensable for attracting new investments. The Government therefore supports the establishment of integrated higher education-industrial centres, which will primarily be built around the automobile industry.
The Government wishes to increase the current number of 3000 small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to 12.000, accordingly, the Hungarian Eximbank aims at doubling the amount of export-enhancing loans, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.
In response to a question Mr. Szijjártó said that the Ukraine conflict still has an extremely negative impact on Hungarian exports: in the first two months of the year, Hungarian exports to Russia decreased by 36 per cent. As a result of the war, Hungary has also experienced a loss of exports sales to the Commonwealth of Independent States, he said.
At the same time, the economy has recorded an increase in all directions, which are not directly influenced by Russian exports, the Minister noted. Exports to the European Union increased by 5 per cent to 79 per cent over the first two months, and exports to Germany have also grown, despite the fact that a record of EUR 23.2 billion was achieved last year already, he said.