PM Viktor Orbán and the President of the National Development Agency Zoltán Petykó provided an overall presentation on development policy and the New Széchényi Plan on the occasion of an event organized by the National Development Agency on Thursday.

While most EU member states face news of austerity day to day, so far Hungary's path has been one of stability, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told the conference. Orbán said Hungary was building an economic model fit for the 21st century, to which Brussels may have raised objections, but on the basis of the results so far the European Union has conceded that the Hungarian budget is under control.

With regard to the Széchényi Plan, the Prime Minister put forward that it had been the greatest invention of recent years, making Hungary the region’s most competitive state in the years 2001 and 2002. The plan was relaunched last year with the aim of rebuilding and reinforcing the Hungarian economy.

Compared to other member states with similar funds at their disposal, Hungary’s achievement is outstanding in absorbing the most funds for successful projects. According to the data published by the European Commission on 1 July 2012, the Commission has already paid out Euro 101 billion from the allocated amount to the member states as an interim payment. Hungary’s share was 6.9 billion euros, provided by the European Regional Development Fund and the Cohesion Fund.

EU funds contribute significantly to the Hungarian state budget and are the main source for development funding. For this reason, the Hungarian government has also realized the importance of the absorption of EU funding and in order to harmonize developments it founded the National Development Policy Cabinet lead by the Prime Minister.

(Prime Minister's Office)