The government will invite bids to disburse 200 billion forints (EUR 558.9m) in support of boosting the productivity of micro, small and medium-sized companies outside Budapest, the state secretary for European Union development policy at the human resources ministry said on Friday.
The grant scheme covered by the GINOP Plus economic and innovation programme will be the first one in which companies based in Pest County will be eligible to submit bids, Eszter Vitályos told a press conference, noting that the county is now eligible to apply for European Union development funding independently of Budapest.
The first round of bidding will run from July 12 to 19, with further rounds planned in October and January, Vitályos said.
The funds are expected to be disbursed among 1,500-3,000 companies, she said.
The Hungarian government has approved seven more measures to accelerate the economic recovery, said Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Péter Szijjártó, during an official visit to Belgrade on Thursday.
The measures were proposed by the operative board for coordinating the economic recovery, which Szijjártó heads.
The first two measures will help to attract skilled laborers from non-EU countries that are not among Hungary’s neighbors to work in Hungary through temporary staffing agencies, he said.
The government wants to create a skilled temporary workforce under strict conditions.
Another measure eliminates all bureaucratic hurdles for accessing subsidies for workplace creation job subsidies if companies hire registered job-seekers, he added.
The measures also cut notary fees for SMEs taking out loans by 50 percent, and reduce the cost of archaeology work required before investments can start, he said.
The government cleared a Magyar Eximbank program to finance Hungarian companies’ acquisitions abroad and another to support environmentally-friendly and sustainable investments, he added.
Sources of articel/picture: Hungary Today