In February the Ministry for National Economy invited tenders from micro-, small and medium sized enterprises aimed at creating new jobs.

Similarly to previous years, interest was quite keen in the support programme. In order to gain access to the amount of 10bn HUF provided by the National Employment Fund, 750 competitions which requested subsidies of altogether 10.3bn HUF have been received by employment centers where they could be mailed to.

After a strict screening procedure of form and substance, 584 enterprises were awarded non-refundable grants totaling 7.3bn HUF in order to create 4010 new jobs. The subsidy will also help preserve 6234 jobs, as applicants have promised to maintain current payroll numbers for at least two more years. Grants are primarily aimed at helping fund the purchasing of new machinery, equipment and technical apparatus as well as the building of new facilities.

The success of the competition has proven that via relevant planning and apt tender invitation resources can really get to where they are most needed: to such domestic SMEs which have fought hard for funding without which no new jobs could have been created. Among applicants those from disadvantaged regions had been favoured and as a result, the 87.4 percent of the money which was awarded is received by four disadvantaged regions of the country.

(Ministry for National Economy)