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Setting the sceneHungary's transition from a centrally planned to a market economy began even before the collapse of Communism, but, with the election of a non-Communist Government in 1990, the process accelerated. Political stability, an able labour force and legal and institutional reforms have made the country Eastern Europe's most attractive destination for foreign investment: since 1989 it has attracted more than half of all direct foreign investment.
The country has also embarked on the region's most wide-ranging privatisation programme: some 70 per cent of the country's GDP is in the hands of the private sector; foreign investment reached over US$4 billion - the region's highest - in 1995, representing 14 per cent of total GDP. The transition process has not been without difficulties. High inflation and interest rates remain a problem, and the country has felt the social effects of the move to a market economy. Real wages have fallen, while at the same time Government efforts to reform the state spending structure have seen social spending fall. Profound social and economic changes have harmed many Hungarians, and the Government itself acknowledges that it will take time for these wounds to heal.
![]() Interview with former Prime Minister Gyula Horn Hungary: an investment magnet
![]() Dr Peter Medgyessy, former Minister of Finance
Judit Csiha, Minister of Privatisation Privatisation (Hungarian APV Rt and State Holding Company)
Gyorgy Surányi, President, National Bank of Hungary
Andras Sugar, President, Hungarian Joint Venture Association
State Supervisory Authority of Insurance, Hungary
Peter Takáts, President, Union of Independent Insurance Brokers in Hungary & CEO, Polip Insurance Services Plc
Zoltan Szekeres, Hungarian Real Estate Association
Gabor Zsamboki, Hungarian Telecommunications Ltd Dr Péter Szeles, Executive Director of Star PR Agency/WORLDCOM
Power (Hungarian MVM Rt Companies Ltd)
Tax benefits
There will be no dramatic changes
Sustainable growth: myth or reality?
Competitiveness in a challenging world
Hungary: entering the new millennium
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