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The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade also spoke on Debrecen Television about investments in the city, the BMW factory and the situation of the Russian-Ukrainian war. According to Szijjártó, the people of Debrecen could benefit from the renovation of the Grand Station by a foreign company.
Harro Höfliger is implementing a large-scale production expansion in the city, and BMW will begin series production in autumn. What impact do the investments in Debrecen have on the Hungarian economy, and when can progress be expected in ending the Russian-Ukrainian war? Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó spoke about these in the Debrecen Television programme Public Affairs.
The minister recently stated that “the entire focus of BMW is now, without any exaggeration, on Debrecen” and “all obstacles have been removed to enable it to start series production of a model based on a purely electric platform in the autumn.”
“As for the Debrecen part, the good news is that all buildings have been built, all machines have arrived, everything is ready for series production to start. The Hungarian government has also fulfilled all its obligations, we have almost fully completed our tasks related to energy supply, water supply, and transportation, so there is no obstacle to series production starting in the BMW factory in Debrecen in autumn,” he stated.
He highlighted that they are also reaching a milestone in the history of the BMW Group, as the Debrecen factory will be the first within the group to carry out production based on a fully electric platform.
BMW Hungary’s Head of Communications, András Salgó spoke on the AutóSámán Podcast about the emphasis on electromobility, but they are also developing their cars with other powertrains. In addition to electric cars, their model range includes petrol, diesel and hybrid cars, and this multi-faceted approach gives the company stability.
“The past years have proven that those who stand on more legs have a better chance of surviving. The world economy is in an unpredictable situation. There are certain processes that are moving forward, such as the automotive industry’s transition to electric propulsion. The question is how quickly this will happen. If a factory is capable of producing cars with any powertrain, it will be much more stable in the storms of the world economy,” Péter Szijjártó stated.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs added what is worrying is the state of the European economy. The automotive industry is the backbone of the European economy, in comparison, the European Union has made several inexplicably stupid decisions in recent times, which have put the automotive industry in an unpleasant situation.
Minister Gergely Gulyás recently announced that the investment known as Grand Budapest in Rákosrendező will not be realised. Mayor László Papp recently spoke on Debrecen Television that he believes Budapest has made the wrong decision on this issue. Instead of agreeing with the government and starting a development process, and not having to put its own money into the reclamation and development of such a huge area.
In response to a question from editor-in-chief Zsuzsa Keserű, Péter Szijjártó also addressed the impact he believes such a political debate has on the attitude of foreign investors, as a company with a Turkish background in Debrecen has applied for the investment, in cooperation with the Ministry of Construction and Transport.
“Debrecen is a completely different story from Budapest, of course. Fortunately, rational thinking is the hallmark of the city administration here. And if, in cooperation with the government, a development comes up that will make the area around the Great Station a modern, beautiful part of the city that is usable by the people of Debrecen, I think some kind of agreement will be reached. And if, for example, a foreign investor can be involved in this, then that would be good, because then it would not be the people of Debrecen or Hungarian taxpayers’ money that would have to be invested in such a development,” he emphasised.
In recent days, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade said that there has been a glimmer of hope regarding the conclusion of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Hungary has been taking a clear position on this for three years.
“We know exactly that an American-Russian agreement is needed to end the war. This has not been possible so far, as a pro-war American administration has continuously poured oil on the fire. Now there is a pro-peace American president, here is the opportunity to end the war,” he emphasised.
Finally, he spoke about how we have never been so close to establishing peace as we are now, it will obviously not be easy, it will not happen overnight, but now we can see that it is getting closer and closer to us.
Source and photo credit:dehir.hu
