Hungary Prepares to Assume Presidency of Council of the European Union
Prime Minister Orbán received the leaders of the European Round Table for Industry
In connection with Hungary’s upcoming presidency of the Council of the European Union, which will start on July 1 and last six months until December 31, 2024, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán received the leaders of the Budapest European Round Table for Industry (ERT).
ERT is a forum that brings together some 60 CEOs and presidents of major European multinational companies covering a wide range of industrial and technological sectors. The meeting with Orbán was attended by executives from Vodafone, BMW, Deutsche Telekom, and MOL. According to the statement by Bertalan Havasi, head of the prime minister’s press office, made after the talks, the meeting particularly focused on “enhancing the global competitiveness of the European Union, which represents one of the fundamental tasks of Hungary’s future presidency of the Council of the EU.” The meeting took into account the proposals of top managers of industrial and technological companies to improve the competitiveness of Europe. Orbán praised the contribution of European societies to the well-being of the Old Continent’s inhabitants. Industry representatives expressed satisfaction with the economic situation in Hungary.
According to data released by the Central Statistical Office (KSH) on the occasion of the meeting, Hungary’s gross domestic product grew by 1.1 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2024. In the mentioned period, seasonally adjusted annualized economic growth was even higher at 1.7 percent. As for industrial production, it grew at an annualized rate of 6.4% in April 2024.
