Foreign firms in Hungarian construction industry must be prevented from building with foreign products - minister

The Hungarian state is the biggest customer of the construction industry. ÉVOSZ has been continuously involved in the development of the Construction Act in order to ensure that the industry can operate as efficiently as possible. In particular, the law should address the competitive environment in which investments are made, and the costs involved, said László Koji.

Sustainable, green, circular investments are needed, with a focus on costs.

The most important section of the architecture law is the section on construction economic measures, which covers compulsory liability insurance and intervention conditions, he added.

Security of supply and reducing export exposure are very important objectives. One of the biggest challenges is to protect the domestic market, because the domestic construction industry is not export-oriented, it produces mostly for the domestic market, so if there are not enough resources, it is important not to export them abroad, stressed Koji.

János Lázár pointed out that the 150,000 Hungarian construction contractors contribute significantly to GDP growth and the creation of new jobs. Today, 400,000 people work in the construction industry. The Hungarian construction industry will remain highly important for the national economy in the next ten years.

Although 7 out of the 10 largest construction companies are Hungarian, half of the HUF 28,000 billion forints spent in the construction sector still went abroad.

Foreign companies in the Hungarian construction industry must be prevented from building with foreign products,

and local small and large enterprises must be given an advantage. The Council for the Reconciliation of Interests in Public Investment was set up to this end.

At present, half of the raw materials used in Hungarian investments are imported, while if we include products manufactured in Hungary by foreign companies, foreign exposure is as high as 80%. The law on Hungarian architecture aims to give space to Hungarian construction players, but also to create good quality, affordable products, he added.

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