“The growth of the Hungarian economy must be moved forward into a new phase based on research & development and innovation; we must build on creativity and intellectual capital. These are excellent foundations for the establishment of the next phase of development of the economy”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said.
At the opening of a two-day science and technology conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Budapest, Mr. Szijjártó stressed: “This will prepare the economy for a totally new industrial era in which IT and industry will merge”. “There is much to do with relation to this target, which is for innovation and research & development to be at the centre of foreign investments that we wish to attract”, he said, adding that “We must convince investors that Hungary is the best destination for digital and research & development projects”.
We will continue to base the growth of the Hungarian economy on the automobile industry, “We cannot discard the achievements of recent years” and the automotive industry will continue to be a key sector, but not in the same form as previously. The goal is for as many automotive industry enterprises as possible to choose Hungary as the location of their research & development centres, the Minister explained, pointing out that the major areas of future development are electro-mobility and self-propelled, autonomous vehicles.
Mr. Szijjártó also spoke about the fact that the world has experienced a significant change, nothing is like it used to be and we are living in a new world order. “A few years ago, Hungary received criticism for its seemingly very courageous economic policy measures, but it has become clear that these decisions served the goal of enabling Hungary to stand its ground amid the new challenges well, and indeed has become successful”, he highlighted. “A Hungarian model has been established, which proves that it is possible to simultaneously achieve fiscal discipline and economic growth”, he added.
The Foreign Minister also reminded the press that foreign policy had also been reformed two years ago to fundamentally focus on foreign trade, which was also the subject of criticism, but it has now become clear that this too was a correct decision in view of the fact that every foreign trade indicator broke previous records last year.
According to Mr. Szijjártó, “we must face increasingly serious challenges” and one of the most important challenges affects science and innovation, because there has perhaps never been such a high level of competition in this field, and those who are incapable of keeping up with the times will not be competitive.
Prime Ministerial Commissioner for the Digital Welfare Programme, MEP Tamás Deutsch spoke about the fact that we must prepare for the extremely rapid pace of changes to accelerate further in future; we can expect an increase in digitalisation, changes in the economy, the operation of the state, diplomacy, the education system and the reorganisation of all the major systems that affect our everyday lives.
“The goal of the programme is the full establishment of digital infrastructure in line with 21st century requirements, the realisation of the economy’s digital reorganisation, the full digital overhaul of operations of the Hungarian administration and the development of digital skills”, Mr. Deutsch highlighted.
President of the National Research, Development and Innovation Office József Pálinkás stressed: “The renewal of the economy also requires the renewal of the research & development and innovation system, as well as Hungarian education, because although we can contribute to foreign enterprises choosing Hungary as their investment destinations through tax incentives and funding, the most important criterion when an large international company decides to choose Hungary is whether there are suitable professionals available”.
“The national innovation system is based on cooperation between higher education, the research network, the economy and the administration”, he explained, denoting the primary function of science and technology attachés as information assessment, promotion and forging links.