This year, Hungarian agriculture and the Hungarian food industry are producing perhaps the most favourable export surplus since Hungary joined the European Union – said the State Secretary for Agricultural Economy of the Ministry of Rural Development on Saturday in Békéscsaba.

György Czerván, who was attending a meeting of the eastern Hungary county presidents of the KPE-KPSZ (Smallholders' Civil Alliance) Party, which belongs to the Fidesz alliance system, told those at the press conference: the affect of the sector on the country's import-export balance has always been extremely positive.

He added: we achieve a foreign trade surplus of around 1-2 billion forints each year, and according to this year's first half data, the export surplus will be the most favourable this year. We have already exceeded the figures for the same period last year, during which the export surplus had already reached record levels, by 18%.

The State Secretary referred to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's speech at the National Agriculture and Food Exhibition (OMÉK), according to which agriculture is a strategic sector in Hungary. This leads him to conclude that those involved in the sector can expect government support at the highest levels – he added.

With reference to the Smallholders' meeting in Békéscsaba, President of the KPE-KPSZ Party Béla Turi-Kovács announced: "our goal is that a development should begin within the association, which can reverse the unfavourable tendencies which have begun recently with regard to support at a national level, and which are able to strengthen the association to which we belong, and to which we wish to faithfully remain a part of".

(MTI)