The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, Péter Szijjártó, said that the country’s future depends greatly on the universities and the quality of the work being done there.
According to Minister Szijjártó, the connection between higher education and economic processes is very important, SchengenVisaInfo reports.
He also cited the collaboration between Széchenyi István University and German engineering giant Bosch as a good example.
“Speaking in Zalaegerszeg, in western Hungary, on Monday, the Minister argued that countries’ supply of skilled professionals increasingly decided the international race for investments. Minister Szijjártó attended the inauguration of Széchenyi István University’s incubation and lodging building at the ZalaZone science park next to Europe’s largest vehicle test track,” a statement issued by the government noted.
The Minister explains that there is currently “fierce” global competition to secure investments amid the ongoing crisis.
He also pointed out that tax rates and political stability could be critical in such competition, revealing that Hungary’s nine per cent corporate tax rate was the lowest in Europe. At the same time, he said that Hungary offers a predictable and politically stable environment.
“The quality of human resources is becoming the key factor in the race for investments. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Hungary’s competitiveness and future are greatly dependent on universities and the quality of the work being done there,” the Minister added.
Moreover, in March, the Minister of innovation and technology László Palkovics revealed that the government has helped with 200 billion forints or €539.0 million in developing infrastructure and science parks in twenty Hungarian universities, which are either run by the state or by foundations supported by the government.
According to him, the financing is the first phase of a development scheme of 2,700 billion forints. In addition, projects have been funded at Budapest University of Technology, Andrássy University, University of Veterinary Sciences, four medical universities, Óbuda University, Miskolc University and Hungarian Dance University.
Over 74 per cent of female applicants were accepted full-time to universities and colleges in Hungary in 2021.
Besides, Hungary has almost 37,000 international students in higher education, which is precise because Hungarian universities are considered the best educational institutions that offer high-quality training in many fields.
However, this means that this number is almost three times greater than the number of Hungarians studying abroad, thus numbering around 13,038.