Hungary could approach the level of development in Western Europe by 2030 if GDP growth returns to an annual 4% after the coronavirus crisis, the Hungarian office of US consultancy firm McKinsey has said. Office head Levente Jánoskuti told an online press conference that Hungary’s early preparation to the post-pandemic period was key to the country’s convergence to Western Europe in the coming period. The most important factors in that process are investment support, cutting-edge technology, a well-trained workforce and the regulatory environment, Jánoskuti said. András Havas, who co-authored the analysis on Hungary, said that without substantial improvements to its competitiveness, the country’s GDP is expected to grow by 2.5% on the long run. Productivity and efficiency are to be boosted in all sectors if Hungary is to catch up with its western European peers, he added. Development should include automatisation in the farm sector and upgrades of the electricity network, he said. Havas also called for bridging regional gaps in public education and increasing the proportion of engineering and science courses in higher education. Improved digital and foreign language skills would boost the competitiveness of the labour force, he added.