Finance Minister Mihály Varga met a delegation of the US-Hungarian Business Council and praised the two countries' partnership in innovation and investments. The Hungarian government views innovation and high value-added production and services as priorities, and US companies are "excellent partners" in such endeavours, the finance ministry's statement cited Varga as saying. The US is Hungary's second largest investor, and cooperation between the two countries is vitally important for a strong Hungarian economy, he said. Hungarian-US trade turnover has shown vigorous growth in recent years. Some 1,700 US-owned companies employ more than 100,000 people in Hungary. Investors are being helped by government measures to cut red tape, increase the employment rate and create a reliable economic environment, Varga said.
The minister noted that Hungary is in 48th place on the latest World Economic Forum's competitiveness ranking of 140 countries.
The USHBC was established in 2016 by American businesses operating in Hungary to facilitate dialogue between US business leaders and the Hungarian government. Today was the second and final day of their third annual business mission to Budapest.
