The State Secretary for External Economic Relations and Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó declared at the press conference of the Hungarian Investment and Trade Agency that the top priority of Hungarian economic policy this year is to facilitate growth and achieving this requires the successful implementation of the Opening to the East policy.

State Secretary Péter Szijjártó said that Hungary belongs to those five EU countries that have been able to reduce their state debt and is one of the very few countries in which the budget deficit was under 2 percent last year, adding that this is a good indicator with regard to the excessive deficit procedure, where the decision concerning Hungary will hopefully be based on numbers and facts.

State Secretary Péter Szijjártó emphasized that the most important source of economic growth is the expansion of exports, and the Hungarian Investment and Trade Agency should focus on achieving this goal.

According to the State Secretary, beside maintaining their share of Western markets, Hungarian exports must concentrate on rapidly growing Eastern markets. 76 percent of Hungarian exports are currently directed towards EU countries, while the share of the European market outside the EU totals 12 percent and exports to other continents provide the remaining 12 percent.  

State Secretary Péter Szijjártó pointed out that China and other Far Eastern states, the Arab world, the Caucasian region and the African markets could play a role in export expansion. In the Eastern markets, international agreements aimed at supporting companies must be concluded within the framework of joint economic committees, he said.

(Prime Minister’s Office)