State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations Péter Szijjártó stated at the general assembly of the Hungarian Foreign Economic Association that the activities of Hungarian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on foreign markets are supported by several governmental incentives including trade houses, strategic agreements concluded with large companies and export financing.

He said that Parliament had enacted the law on trade houses last year and National Trade House Inc. had been officially registered; the organisation will establish trade houses around the world. HUF 3.1 billion HUF has been earmarked for this purpose this year, he added.

The State Secretary declared that a Hungarian trade house had been established in Baku last year as a result of private initiatives, and this year the QUAESTOR corporation would be opening one in Moscow. Additionally, the Government will open trade houses in Riyadh, Beijing and Astana. Targets for next year and 2015 will be the Far Eastern region, and South America and South Africa, respectively.

He also expressed that the Government had begun concluding a series of strategic agreements with multinational companies operating in Hungary. These agreements also support the export activities of Hungarian SMEs’, because the large companies enable them to be involved in supply chains both in Hungary and internationally.

The goal of the Government is to make export incentives and the credit system simpler, more active and more effective.

The Hungarian Investment and Trade Agency plays a crucial role in supporting the export activities of Hungarian companies, implementing 567 programmes last year of which 389 were related to export development. If the Hungarian Investment and Trade Agency supports export, then every 1 HUF of taxpayers' money is tripled in a single year.

The State Secretary added that Hungary had succeeded in reducing its debt, increasing its competitiveness and maintaining its stability.

(Prime Minister's Office)