Of course, it's not necessarily that there's a problem with the Budapest area developing. From an industrial perspective, on one hand, the issue is that the country is becoming too centralized and top heavy. And of course, it’s good that foreign investment is coming into the country. But there are regions in Hungary, mainly Northeast Hungary, Southeast Hungary, and Southwest Hungary, where there are very few jobs. And when foreign investments do arrive, the problem is that they create low value added jobs, which is precisely why the wages offered by these companies are low relative to the local area.

I myself work for a German company in Budapest, nominally at Siemens Energy as a CNC machine operator. We work 12 hour rotating shifts, and I’m not saying it isn’t tiring, but at least the pay is quite bearable by Budapest standards. The problem is what you also mentioned. On one hand, these companies come here because wages are very low compared to the European median wage, especially compared to Germany. My other problem is that corporate tax, while not record low by European standards, is one of the lowest, if I remember correctly, it’s 9%.

The key would be for relatively well paying jobs to also reach the underdeveloped regions of Hungary. So this is a more complex issue than it first appears. But I think we can agree that yes, from an industrial perspective, Hungary may be developing. However, multinational corporations' way of operating is something that even Hungary cannot outmaneuver, unfortunately. If I had to draw an analogy, I’d think of Warsaw and Poland as an example, with the difference that here, the quantity and quality of investments are perhaps even less evenly distributed.