Prime Minister Viktor Orbán received Jean-Philippe Seta, CEO of the independent pharmaceutical group Servier, which employs 20 000 people worldwide, and Executive Director of the Group's Hungarian subsidiary Servier Hungary Michel Eschenbrenner in Parliament today.

The leaders of the company briefed the Prime Minister on their 20 years of activity in Hungary and their constantly increasing investments, as well as with regard to their plans for the future.

Servier research provides livelihoods for 500 Hungarian medical experts in Hungary who are in the frontline of medical scientific research, while Hungarian patients benefit from their knowledge. The company welcomes the initiative of the Hungarian Government that urges similar investments as well as the fact that this incentive has been extended recently.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán called the cooperation with the company a great example of Hungarian-French economic cooperation that the Government is prepared to further develop.

The participants emphasized the further opportunities that lie in government-promoted research and development. The salaries of research engineers are exempt from the payment of employee contributions up to HUF 500 thousand/month.

The parties called the Hungarian tax system, which favours work and investment, productive. They also discussed the earlier discoveries that brought Servier international acclaim, such as the diabetology and cardiology products related to László Beregi, the company's Hungarian-born lead researcher for several decades, and the company's other innovations that may ensure better life prospects for those who suffer from cardiac failure and depression.

(Government Information Centre)