The flat-rate personal income tax system has been a key growth-boosting factor, as thanks to the comprehensive income tax reform it is again worth creating and taking up jobs in Hungary, and thus there is a window of opportunity for escaping unemployment, economic slump and demographic crisis, Minister of State for Taxation and Financial Affairs Gábor Orbán said at a press conference in Budapest.
Hungary’s flat-rate personal income tax can hopefully be reduced from the current level of 16 percent to single digits within three years, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said at a business forum organised by the Japan Business Federation (Keidanred) and the Hungarian Investment and Trade Agency (HITA) in Japan on Friday.
In his interview to public radio Kossuth, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is currently in Japan, expressed his hope that decision will be made quickly on the issue foreign currency denominated loans by Hungary's Curia as soon as possible.
The conference that was attended by Minister of State for Social Inclusion Zoltán Kovács from the Ministry of Human Resources focused on the topic of the integrated education of disadvantaged children, including Roma children. Press release.
MFA Political Director Szabolcs Takács attended the opening of the Budapest office of the Turkish EKOL Logistics Ltd on November 20, following which he had talks with EKOL President Ahmet Musal, CEO Tayfun Öktem and Head of the Hungarian subsidiary Ákos Kovács.
Foreign Minister János Martonyi received Ankie Broekers-Knol, President of the Senate of the Netherlands in his office on Wednesday.
21 Nov 2013, Budapest
According to preliminary data by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), in the third quarter of 2013 the Hungarian economy expanded – well above analysts’ consensus estimate of 0.8 percent – by 1.7 percent, in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year.
The Hungarian Foreign Ministry was shocked to learn of the verdict reached by the Ethics Committee of the Order of the "Star of Romania" on November 20, 2013 in which they found László Tőkés to be unsuited for holding on to the award.
The XVII International NATO Conference was held in Budapest on 211 November 2013. Deputy Secretary-General of NATO Alexander Vershbow gave a courtesy visit to Hungarian Minister of Defence Csaba Hende before speaking at the conference and the parties discussed the preparation for next year’s NATO Summit, which will be held in Newport, South Wales. The issues of Smart Defence, the future of the alliance’s mission in Afghanistan and the involvement of the Hungarian army in other NATO-led missions were also discussed. The Minister emphasised the importance of NATO's open doors policy and the future enlargement of the alliance.
Following talks with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced that Hungarian oil and gas company MOL and Japan Synthetic Rubber (JSR) have agreed to set up a joint venture to produce synthetic rubber in Tiszaújváros in north-eastern Hungary.
Minister of State for Sport Pál Szekeres announced at a press briefing on Thursday that the Government supports the civil initiative which aims at improving the accessibility of the Liszt Ferenc International Airport for people with disabilities.
"In accordance with the spirit of the Constitution, we cannot allow another GM maize variety to enter commercial cultivation within the European Union and Hungary", the Ministry of Rural Development's Parliamentary State Secretary Gyula Budai declared at the 5th stop of the Roadshow for a GMO-free Hungary series in Hódmezővásárhely, south-east Hungary.
The so-called „European Semester” was elaborated with a view to ensuring closer economic cooperation between EU Member States, and it would not be proper if this process was burdened with out-of-scope issues, some of which fall under national and not EU competence – said Enikő Győri, MFA Minister of State in charge of EU Affairs, after the meeting of EU European Affairs Ministers on 19 November.
The Hungarian Sustainability Summit was held for the fourth time in Budapest on 20 November 2013. The first paper of the conference was delivered by Deputy State Secretary for Climate Policy Ferenc Hizó, who outlined Hungary’s challenges related to climate change.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is currently on an official three-day working visit to Japan. The official delegation includes, amongst others, Minister of Human Resources Zoltán Balog and Minister of National Economy Mihály Varga.
A total of 33.1 billion forints (EUR 111m) has been allocated in extra funding to 93 hospitals for paying their overdue bills for suppliers, the Minister of State for Healthcare Miklós Szócska announced on Wednesday.
Minister of National Development Zsuzsa Németh represents Hungary at the Ministerial meeting of the Governing Board of the International Energy Agency (IEA) in the French capital on 19 November 2013. At the event, energy ministers and top managers of the largest corporations in the energy industry exchange views on issues of competitiveness and climate change and discuss directions for the future operation of the organisation.
Following the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on Monday, Foreign Minister János Martonyi stated that migration is not only a humanitarian problem but also a security policy challenge.
A retrospective exhibition of Hungarian-French painter Endre Rozsda (1913-1999) was opened at the Hungarian National Gallery on November 18, on the hundredth anniversary of his birth.
The Minister of State for Social Inclusion believes that Hungary and Montenegro may successfully cooperate in the resolution of the situation of the Roma; the Western-Balkans country is aware that the issue of minorities must be addressed.
In the month of September, wages in real terms increased by 4.9 percent in comparison to September 2012, and thus the purchasing power of wages have been on the rise for the ninth month in a row, an indicator of the success of the Government’s economic policy.
As Minister of State for Employment Sándor Czomba said at a press conference, as of 1 January 2014 the scope of tax incentives related to the employment of parents with small children will be extended while existing allowances are kept in place within the framework of the “parental benefit extra” programme.
In the coming EU fiscal period, the Government plans to spend some HUF 140bn from EU and domestic resources on programmes aimed at bolstering the Hungarian start-up sector, Minister of State for Economic Strategy Zoltán Cséfalvay said at the conference titled “Young Entrepreneurship Week”.
"Tepertős pogácsa" - traditional Hungarian salty scones with pork cracklings - have been entered onto the European Union's list of traditional food specialities. This is the first Hungarian "traditional speciality" to have been included.
Hungary's government is waiting for the Curia, the country's supreme court, to take a legal uniformity decision on foreign currency-denominated loans, the Minister of Public Administration and Justice told journalists on Tuesday following a roundtable discussion with representatives of the National Bank of Hungary, the National Judicial Office, the Office of the Commissioner of Fundamental Rights, the Hungarian Bar Association, the Hungarian National Chamber of Notaries and the Chief Prosecutor’s Office.
Hungary's could become the fastest growing economy in Central Europe by the end of the year, if it succeeds in continuing in the fourth quarter the work it achieved in the third – said Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Tuesday in Kaposvár, Hungary.
Expanding bilateral cooperation between Hungary and Vietnam plays an important role in the implementation of the government's Opening towards the East policy, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations Péter Szijjártó said.
Minister of State for Energy Affairs Pál Kovács is to be involved with new responsibilities affecting EU energy markets in his position of alternate member of the Administrative Board of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER). Based on a decision of the Council of the European Union, the four-year mandate of the Minister of State is to begin as from 28 January, 2014.
Under the supervision of the Ministry of National Development and the Hungarian Transport Administration and as a result of broad groundwork laid by experts, the draft of the National Transport Strategy (NTS) has been prepared. Social consultations on the document, starting on 19 November 2013, are to continue for a month.