Hungary's food industry received over HUF 300 bn of EU funds since 2014

Portfolio
The food industry is regarded as a strategic sector therefore the size of European Union grants received in the current fiscal cycle since 2014 has already exceeded 300 billion forints, Agricultural Minister István Nagy told a meeting of commercial attachés in Budapest on Monday.
According to a report by the Ministry of Agriculture, the minister pointed out that Hungary’s annual food industry exports have been constantly over EUR 8 billion over the last three years. This was made possible by the significant improvement of Hungary’s agricultural productivity between 2010 and 2018, as a result of which the country caught up considerably with EU member states in the region.

Nagy said the share of agricultural exports within total exports reached 8.3% in 2018, and farming contributed with nearly EUR 2.9 bn to the almost EUR 5.6 billion foreign trade surplus of the country. Between 2010 and 2018, exports rose by 49%, imports grew by 57%, and the trade balance improved by 35%.

The minister noted that of the nearly 5,000 businesses registered in the food industry, about 1,000 carry out export activities. Revenues realised by export companies is now close to HUF 1,300 bn. More than 30% of food industry revenues are generated by exports and the ratio is rising.

Most non-domestic turnover is achieved in the meat sector, in animal fodder production and in vegetable and fruit processing

, said Nagy.

The minister underlined that Hungary applies the world’s strictest animal health and plant health standards created by the EU. He added that food industry products exported are free of diseases and are of excellent quality. Hungary supports only those export and import activities that take into consideration the sensitivity of the country’s agriculture and contribute to observing animal health and plant health regulations.

The minister highlighted that one of Hungary’s main economic potentials is the agriculture and the food industry. The country remains open to value-accretive investments that drive agriculture forward and help the countryside become competitive, he concluded.
This article is part of the work programme titled "The impacts of EU cohesion policy in Hungary - Present and Future" which is carried out by Net Média Zrt., the publisher of Portfolio.hu, between 1st April 2019 and 31st March 2020 with European Union financing. The views in this article solely reflect the opinions of the author. The European Commission as the funding entity does not take any responsibility for the use of information presented in this article.
 

More in EU funds

európai bizottság, eu, európai unió, uniós források, uniós vizsgálat
April 24, 2024 16:06

European Commission takes Hungary under fire

Motorway concession, 'lex CEU', asylum rules in infringement cases

eu-csúcs, uniós csúcs, uniós csúcstalálkozó, európai tanács, európai unió tanácsa
April 19, 2024 11:32

EU summit ends with no substantive agreement, serious divisions among member states

Still, negotiations on the EU's competitiveness agenda are under way

utlevel-schengeni-ovezet-hataratkeles-hataratkelo-utazas
April 19, 2024 10:12

Hungarian gold visa programme could irk Washington, Beijing and the EU at the same time

However, the details of the guest investor scheme are still unknown

orbán
April 18, 2024 09:08

Orbán at NatCon: Ukraine must never join the EU or NATO

Serious statements made by the Prime Minister at the Conservative Conference in Brussels

navracsics tibor
April 15, 2024 14:00

Hungarian government to respond to Brussels soon over threat to EU funds - minister

Cabinet is also completely rethinking development policy

acélipar, acélkohó, acélgyártás, fémipar, dunaferr
April 15, 2024 10:03

Russia and China collude on metals trade, EU prepares to act

Sanction-evading ploy exposed

LATEST NEWS

Detailed search