FM Péter Szijjártó
One of the most important economic achievements of the past fifteen years is that eastern Hungary has caught up with western Hungary in terms of economic development, which would not have been possible if Hungarian money had been sent to Ukraine, said Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, on Tuesday in Nyíregyháza.
The minister first stated at the Nyíregyháza Industrial Park project handover ceremony that ten years ago there was a painfully sharp difference between the economic development of the western and eastern parts of Hungary, which is why the government set a goal to eliminate this as soon as possible.
Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, delivers a speech at the handover ceremony of the Nyíregyháza Industrial Park project at City Hall. Photo: MTI/Erdős József
He pointed out that due to the external environment and the serious European crises of the past ten to fifteen years, this was not an easy task, but it was achieved because, despite the sanctions and the war economy being built from Brussels, the Hungarian people’s money was spent on developing our country.
The level of economic development in eastern Hungary has reached that of the western part of the country. I would like to quietly note that if we had spent Hungarian people’s money on developing Ukraine and financing the war over the past year or two, we would not have been able to develop the eastern part of the country,”
he said.
He pointed out that this required infrastructure development, the construction of roads and railways, the creation of large industrial parks and industrial areas, and record-breaking corporate investments.
Péter Szijjártó explained that Nyíregyháza had played a key role in the rise of eastern Hungary over the past decade, helping the region become one of the strongholds of the modern automotive industry.
He also recalled that during this period, 121 large corporate investments were made in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County with the support of the government, worth approximately HUF 1,700 billion (EUR 4.42 billion), which created roughly 15,000 new jobs and increased industrial production by 2.5 times.
“Over the past ten years, the government has agreed on 42 major corporate investments, which have been established in Nyíregyháza. We provided HUF 130 billion (EUR 338 million) in government support for this, which resulted in HUF 1,300 billion (EUR 3.38 billion) worth of investments and factory construction here in Nyíregyháza, creating 9,300 new jobs in the city,” he said.
He also mentioned that since the first one filled up quickly, they agreed to build a new 640-hectare industrial park to make the area attractive to the largest corporate investments, which proved successful, and several important automotive companies moved into the site, including one of BMW’s key suppliers.
He emphasized that this industrial park is now also largely full, thus a new phase of development of the area must begin.
“The government has decided to allocate a total of HUF 220 billion (EUR 572 million) in subsidies for the development of infrastructure in the Nyíregyháza industrial park in order that Nyíregyháza can continue to be an attractive destination for large corporate investments, with the aim of creating many new, modern jobs that guarantee a secure livelihood in the city,” he announced.
“This HUF 220 billion (EUR 572 million) in government support will be used to build new roads and bike paths. We have developed the energy infrastructure of the city and the industrial park, and we will continue with these developments. A new junction will be built on the M3 motorway. We will increase the capacity of the approach section of Road 4, and new railway developments will be carried out so that the increased rail traffic does not cause inconvenience to the people living here,” he listed.
“I would like to thank you for your cooperation in the developments so far, and we are ready to start the second phase of development of the new 640-hectare large industrial park. All the necessary government decisions have been made, thus the HUF 60 billion (EUR 156 million) needed for this phase of development is available to the city,” he summarized.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Antonio Costa, President of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. Photo: newsroom.consilium.europa.eu
The minister stressed that Brussels is building a war economy in Europe and wants to give Ukraine more war loans from European taxpayers’ money.
“I would like to make it clear that as long as Hungary has a sovereign national government, we will not send Hungarian people’s money to Ukraine. Hungarian people’s money will continue to serve the purpose of Hungary’s development, as it has done so far,” he stated.
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Via MTI; Featured photo: MTI/Erdős József
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