Hungary-Poland business forum was held in Budapest

Central Europe could become one of the biggest winners of the new global economy thanks to stability, sensible economic policies and security policies focusing on national interests, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Monday.

Szijjártó told a Hungary-Poland business forum that relations between the two countries could be best described as being fraternal, a statement by the ministry said.

“We must not tolerate being scorned and handled in Europe as pure beneficiaries of cooperation any longer,” he said. Hungarian and Polish people equally contribute with their work to the generation of community resources, he added.

Central Europe has greatly benefitted from pursuing “policies based on common sense” and the region has consequently become one of the most attractive targets for investment in recent years, Szijjártó said. He noted low taxes on labour, which he said the Hungarian government planned to further reduce, and efforts to guarantee people’s safety.

If the Visegrad Group’s four members were to form a state, it would be the second largest country and the third largest market in the European Union, Szijjártó said. He noted that

Germany’s trade with the V4 was twice as much as with France last year.

At the same time, the region still needs to overcome certain disadvantages in competitiveness. A high-speed rail network must be built and road transport further improved with the help of joint efforts, he added. The integration of the Western Balkans would greatly strengthen competitiveness even further, Szijjártó said.