The Government will do everything in its power to help Hungary turn into not only a production but an innovation centre, Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga said at the general assembly of the Hungarian Association for Innovation.
The Minister stated that Hungary is in possession of those capacities and opportunities that are essential for assuming a leading role in innovation. In his opinion, economic policy needs two instruments to achieve this end: the stability of economic performance must be maintained and rebounding economic growth must be underpinned.
The objective of the Government is to have at least 20 world-class innovation centres until 2018, the end of the current government term, and at least thirty by the end of the decade, Mihály Varga stressed.
As he explained, economic growth and improved competitiveness of enterprises are unimaginable without supporting R&D and innovation, therefore the Government will in the coming period increase the weight of high added value production.
He added that although the new Cabinet has not been named yet, innovation priorities are being already laid down.
Mihály Varga emphasised that business tax incentives introduced over the past years will continue “provided the budget allows”, and the tax burden will be further cut. In addition, programmes aimed at cutting red tape will be continued, the registration process of new companies will be accelerated and financing options will be improved.
The Minister said the Government expects that economic revival will also boost lending and the Government is readying regulatory amendments in order to facilitate this process.
As the Minister pointed out, Hungary needs an industrial strategy which reduces exposure to the car sector. To this end, certain priority areas must be selected where resources can be focused on. As examples, the Minister mentioned the electronics, logistics, healthcare and tourism sectors as well as the food and defence industries. In addition, the Minister singled out the importance of electro-mobility and said that the Government intends to facilitate the development and utilization of electric machinery and appliances, especially vehicles.
The Minister stressed that the Government is preparing to change the structure of innovation policy and in the coming months a committee will be set up to serve as a development policy umbrella organization. While in 2007-2013 only 16 percent of EU funding was devoted directly to economic development, in the period 2014-2020 this indicator will be 60 percent or HUF 4000bn. The main targets will be the development of SMEs and subsidizing R&D and labour market programmes. He added that in 2014-2020 some HUF 700bn will be made available for R&D and at the allocation of resources the aspect of competitiveness will also be taken into account. It is also a goal of the Government to coordinate university, academic and company researches and until 2020 increase the number of researchers by 40 percent.
Mihály Varga stressed that knowledge, ideas and diligence are not sufficient for generating economic achievements: the knowledge encapsulated in an idea or an invention shall be developed and made use of. He also stated that while in 2008-2014 Hungarian economic policy had to focus on crisis management, economic reform has lately been bearing fruits and the economy is gaining momentum.
He said that in the first quarter Hungary’s GDP grew by 3.5 percent which figure put the country as the third best among EU member states, following Romania and Poland.
Finally, the Minister emphasised that the Hungarian Association for Innovation is a key partner for the Government and the Cabinet is open to discussing priorities with the sector’s representatives.
(Ministry for National Economy)
