Hungary FM Reports Major Successes in Szeged

Despite all the difficulties of the past four years, this period has been the four most successful years in Hungarian economic history in terms of investment, proving that Hungary has become one of the main winners of the new global economic era, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in Szeged on Friday, according to a ministry statement.

FM Peter Szijjarto attends the groundbreaking ceremony of METRANS’ new investment (Photo: AFP)

At the groundbreaking ceremony of METRANS’ new investment, FM Szijjarto announced that the German-backed company will build one of Europe’s most modern rail-to-road terminals in the city by 2027. The facility will be extremely important in terms of servicing the BYD plant logistically, and will open a new gateway for the economy of the Southern Great Plain region, as European ports will become directly accessible from here.

FM Peter Szijjarto: The past four years have been the four most successful years in Hungarian economic history in terms of investment (Photo: AFP)

He said the project has a total value of approximately 6 billion forints, to which the state is providing 860 million forints in support, thereby contributing to the creation of at least 50 new jobs. He added that the company is now beginning construction of its third logistics center in Hungary, which will be capable of handling up to 300,000 containers annually, making Szeged a significant hub by international standards as well.

And Szeged is clear proof that the southern part of the country is also developing by leaps and bounds. Looking at the past four years, these have been the four most successful years in Hungarian economic history from the perspective of encouraging new investments,

– he said.

FM  Szijjarto went on to explain that combining rail and road transport represents the most modern form of inland freight transport. Moreover, it is an important objective of the Hungarian government to shift as much freight traffic as possible onto electrified rail lines. 

This can significantly reduce harmful emissions, not to mention the fact that it also contributes to increasing the efficiency of supply chains and lowering transportation costs,

– he emphasized.

The foreign minister described logistics as one of the key sectors of the Hungarian economy today and recalled that since 2014 the state has supported 124 investments in this sector, totaling 58 billion forints. As a result, nearly 500 billion forints’ worth of investments have been realized, directly creating 5,000 jobs. The minister also noted that the previously significant development gap between eastern and western Hungary has now been eliminated, making it timely to shift the focus of investment promotion to southern Hungary. 

The foundation of this success is our economic strategy we call economic neutrality, the essence of which is that we do not discriminate between investing companies based on nationality, and we provide Europe’s best environment for cooperation between Eastern and Western companies,

– he stressed.

He also pointed out that cooperation between Eastern and Western companies has already brought modern investments and tens of thousands of new jobs to Hungary. As an excellent example, he cited Szeged, where, alongside Chinese company BYD’s first European factory, one can also find German company Rheinmetall’s only hybrid plant outside Germany.

Szeged's example clearly demonstrates how we would be missing out on enormous opportunities if the world was once again divided into blocs,

– he said. “Today’s investment also clearly demonstrates that the investment-attraction capacity of the southern part of the country has entered an entirely new dimension. A new logistics gateway is opening here, and the city of Szeged will become a major logistics hub,” Mr. Szijjarto concluded.

Cover photo: Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto (Photo: AFP)