Workers load goods in the storage area of the Sino European Business Logistics Cooperation Park in Budapest, Hungary. Photographed by Zhang Fan, a reporter from Xinhua News Agency

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency, Jo Ishtwan, the head of the Hungarian Investment Promotion Bureau, said that Hungary will attract 13 billion euros of foreign direct investment in 2023, double the amount of the previous year. Among them, the investment from China has played a positive role and is helping Hungary to accelerate its economic development.

According to the data released by the Hungarian Investment Promotion Bureau, China's direct investment in Hungary last year was 7.6 billion euros, accounting for 58% of Hungary's total foreign direct investment and creating more than 10000 jobs, which is also the largest source of foreign investment in Hungary after 2020.

Jo Ishtwan said that after years of efforts, Hungary's strategy of "opening up to the east" has borne fruit. Under the guidance of this policy, Hungary's economic and trade exchanges with eastern countries have become closer, especially its cooperation with China has gradually deepened. Thanks to the friendly relations between Hungary and China, more and more Chinese enterprises have come to Hungary for investment and business.

Jo Ishtwan stressed that Hungary's good business environment has facilitated the development of Chinese enterprises, and Hungary's corporate tax is relatively low in Europe. At the same time, Hungary, as a bridge between East and West technologies, helps Western automobile manufacturers and Chinese battery manufacturers to achieve cooperation and show their own strengths. Hungary's advantages in geographical location, logistics network development and layout, and labor force play an important role in the process of enterprise investment decision-making.

Jo Ishtwan said that the automobile manufacturing industry and the entire supply chain related to it play an important role in the Hungarian economy, creating a large number of jobs and having a profound impact on the economic development of Hungary.

He stressed that one of the important functions of the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency is to guide new investors to invest in areas where Hungary still has a large labor pool. Therefore, the Hungarian side is very happy to see that BYD has finally chosen to invest in the southern Hungarian city of Segde.

Jo Ishtwan said that he believed that China's economy would continue to flourish and "we expect China to further increase its investment in Hungary".

(Xinhua News Agency reporters Chen Hao, Kang Yi, Li Chao)

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