INVENTED IN HUNGARY
IMPROVED EDUCATION KEY TO BETTER R&D SCORES In line with the Europe 2020 strategy, the objectives of Hungary’s National Strategy for Research and Development and Innovation for the period 20132020 were to increase R&D expenditure to 1.8% of GDP by 2020. While spending on R&D in Hungary is more or less on par with the regional average, and it has been increasing lately, last year it was slightly lower than in 2018. However, spending alone is not the key to improve the country’s competitiveness in the field or its position in innovation scoreboards. For that, more structural changes are required, including the improvement of education, one R&D expert tells the Budapest Business Journal. By Zsófia Végh According to the most recent data from last December by the Central Statistical Office (KSH), Hungary spent 1.48% of its GDP on R&D in 2019. While the trend is growing, mostly due to corporate activities, its pace is more moderate than that of the GDP increase. As a result, the figure is lower than the year before (1.53%), when more than HUF 654 billion was spent on research and development, the second highest since 1991. As for the locations that received funds in 2018, research institutes took the lead with 76% of the national R&D expenditure or HUF 495 bln. Another 13% (HUF 83 bln) was spent in higher education, with 11% (HUF 71 bln) in institutions belonging to the public finance sector and other budgetary institutions.
Regarding what the money was spent on, HUF 129 bln was paid from the state budget’s R&D appropriation for R&D purposes. HUF 39 bln, or 30% of this amount, was allocated for research to improve the general level of knowledge. Another HUF 23 bln (18%) was spent on industrial production and technology, HUF 11 bln (8.8%) on agriculture, while HUF 19 bln (15%) went for socioeconomic research on health, according to KSH data.
Detre Horváth
When it comes to regional comparisons, the European Innovation Scoreboard, which has been published since 2010, is a good indicator of how each EU member state is doing in the field. Based on the complex innovation index, the member states are put into four categories: leading innovators whose performance is 20% above the EU average, including Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands. They are followed by strong innovators (Austria, Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, and the United
“The Hungarian figures are more or less in line with the regional average, and we currently spend about one and a half percent of GDP on research and development.”
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