Orbán at Singapore business forum: ‘Central Europe is the future’

Central Europe is an “outstanding and thriving region,” Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told a Singaporean-Hungarian business forum on the final day of his visit to Singapore. “The future is in Central Europe.”

In the next 15-20 years, the centre of economic growth in Europe will be in Germany and central and eastern Europe, he said.

It is worthwhile investing in the region, he said. Hungary has risen to the challenges of world economy swiftly, flexible and with market-friendly regulations, he added.

The Hungarian delegation came to Singapore to convince business players there to take part in “the Hungarian success story”, he said. They also want Hungarian businessmen to do the same in Singapore, he added.

Hungary is not rich in natural energy or raw materials, Orbán noted.

“The modern age plays into our hands, as the world economy turns from raw-material-based forms of development to knowledge-based forms”, he said.

Competition between countries will not be decided by their sizes in the future, he said, but by their speed: the quickest countries to fold cutting-edge scientific innovation into economic life will win the race, he said, adding that Singapore has recognised this. The core of Singapore’s success is the idea of creating something new, and this idea can brush off on Europe and Hungary, Orbán said.

Hungarian economic growth is expected to be around 4 percent in 2017, he said.

Integrating digitalisation into production is the greatest challenge of the near future, Orban said. This process is well under way in Hungary, he added, noting “significant” resources allocated to research and development and the expansion of broadband internet access in the country.