There is a good chance that Romania will join the Schengen area in the coming years, and Hungary is well positioned to benefit once prepared. Hungarian entrepreneurs are already working in Romania and vice versa. Romania provides plenty of opportunities.
The success of Western Europe is in part due to the more advanced road, rail and utility network than we have in Central Europe. The lack of pose a significant barrier to growth.
“One of the most important tasks of the Hungarian government is to reduce barriers, thus help the economy to grow”, said László György, Hungarian State Secretary for Economic Development and Regulation from the recently established Ministry for Innovation and Technology.
New Train Line by 2030 to remove barriers to trade
As we reported previously, Lázár János proposed the building of a railway line between Debrecen, Oradea, Nagyszalonta, Gyula, Békéscsaba, Hódmezővásárhely, Szeged, Subotica, Baja, Bátaszék and Pécs.
The new line will be almost 500 kilometres long and it will cost 2-2.5 billion euros to build. The investment would be feasible over a 10 year period according to Lázár.
“We would like to catch up with Austria”, the government commissioner stated.
In time, Hungary can catch up with Western counties like Austria, although the difference in GDP is overwhelming. At present, GDP per capita in Hungary is 12 thousand euros and yet, in Austria it is 3-4 times higher.
The Hungarian government has set this goal, according to the government commissioner. According to János Lázár, the whole country needs to be reorganized, to be dynamic and competitive.