Patriotism is nothing less than responsible thinking which suggests that all products and developments that we can manufacture or implement in Hungary should be made there, creating added value and jobs for a large number of Hungarians. Laszlo Gyorgy, state secretary at the Ministry of Innovation and Technology, spoke to V4NA about the Hungarian government s large-scale Economic Protection Action Plan, which aims to mitigate the economic effects of the current coronavirus crisis and to restart the economy. The action plan prefers a work-based society to running up ill-considered debts, and it rewards work and learning, Mr Gyorgy revealed.

Hungarian PM Viktor Orban announced a large-scale economic protection action plan on Monday, the details of which were revealed by Innovation and Technology Minister Laszlo Palkovics on Tuesday. The measures include five main pillars – why these?

Since 2010, we have been building a work- and learning-based society in Hungary. We want all Hungarians who are able to work, and thus create value for themselves and the community, to find their places on the labour market. In accordance with this, the main idea behind the measures – as well as the first group of measures – are aimed at protecting existing jobs. The secondary idea, in case jobs are lost due to the coronavirus pandemic, revolves around having to create new ones as soon as possible. In parallel, it is also imperative that we create an opportunity to learn for all those who are, for any reason, unable to work at the moment. We are launching adult learning programs that will help those who complete them find better-paid jobs on the labour market once the pandemic is over. Besides these training programs, we encourage people to engage in professional self-development, and companies to train their employees, to ensure that with the new knowledge – for example, after the successful completion of an online language course – they can cope with their tasks even more efficiently once the economy is restarted.

In the meantime, we mustn t forget about those sectors that have long-standing traditions in Hungary, yet they are forced to suffer substantial losses due to the current pandemic. These include tourism, hospitality, film industry and logistics. Then we have the food industry, the agriculture, the health industry and the construction sector. We always knew that these sectors are essential for our well-being and now we can experience in first-hand, on our own skin. Our task in these sectors is to preserve all organised knowledge, so that, unlike in the 1990s, we are able to protect our companies, accumulated supplies and know-how, and we can even achieve improvements if we use the crisis to our advantage.

To accomplish all of this, we will of course need resources, therefore the fourth pillar is specifically designed to secure all the credit and capital resources available to businesses, while the fifth pillar serves to protect the building blocks of the society; families and pensioners.

What made it possible to come up with an action plan of this scale?

Since 2012, Hungary s budget has been on a balanced, sustainable path. This is the first period in the country s history when general government deficit, public debt and foreign loans have shown a long-running, simultaneous decline, while employment rates and wages have been rising and reallocation has left more money with businesses and families. With a successful period of years of accumulation behind us, now we have savings that we can mobilise. This also means that we can remain moderate, and that the general government deficit is not expected to exceed 2.7 per cent of GDP this year, even despite the measures.

The other explanation is partnership. No government action can be successful without the involvement of those it is designed to serve. What we see now is that both businesses and employees persevere; they make responsible decisions and are willing to compromise, for which we are grateful. They are trying to find solutions to the situation – think, for example, of the boom in home delivery services – and this type of ingenuity coupled with government measures is a pre-requisite to economic recovery.

Minister Laszlo Palkovics also emphasized the importance of the health industry. Current experience shows that Europe is in a vulnerable position, heavily dependent on China. What are the precise plans and how can the health industry be strengthened in Hungary?

We have long known that there are critical sectors and so-called vital system constituents, i.e. enterprises that are key to supplying the population and to the country s security.

So far their development has been mainly hindered by the EU s regulations, because Brussels – referring to competition rules – has tried to set the dominance of the stronger countries companies in stone. In addition, based on a neoliberal perception, it also thought that it wasn t worth increasing capacities in Europe, if certain products could be produced cheaper in other parts of the world.

Now that healthcare needs more resources and the old member states are unable to cope with supplying even their own populations, regulations are becoming more lenient. This presents a great opportunity for us to support the manufacture of products (for example masks, disinfectants, vaccines or even medical devices) that are in our national interest and can be produced in Hungary in an economically viable way. Patriotism is nothing less than a responsible way of thinking, which suggests that all products and developments that we can make or implement in Hungary should be produced there, creating added value and jobs for a large number of Hungarians.

What new solutions does this action plan put forward compared to previous crisis management solutions? After the financial crisis of 2008 the government took completely different measures. What is the main difference now?

I have used the word patriot, which means someone who loves his or her country. During the previous crisis, the government followed the path set by others, and was waiting for foreign loans and guidance from Brussels. The current Economic Protection Action Plan has been designed with the principles of necessity and proportionality in mind. It seeks to intervene in the economy to an extent which provides adequate protection for Hungarian people and companies, while continuing to reward work and learning instead of favouring convenience and promoting ill-considered indebtedness. On the other hand, this means the finance ministry, just like the Hungarian families, has learned the lesson to cut your coat according to your cloth.

Hungary s economy is closely linked to the economies of Western European countries, especially Germany. Has the government considered forecasts of when the European and German economies will rebound? Are there any such predictions at all, is it possible to know what to expect?

Of course, we continuously monitor the world economy and we pay close attention to the moves of our main partners. A wide variety of estimates and forecasts have been and are being published, and all the large analyst groups and credit rating agencies have revealed their expectations. If we gaze in our crystal ball, there s cause for optimism, but that s all I can say for now.