Hungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orban has told the World Telecom Conference in Budapest that Central Europe will be the engine of growth in digital technology over the next 10-15 years. 

Speaking on Monday, Orban reminded the attendees of Hungary’s position as third in the European Union for digital technology as a proportion of GDP. 22% of Hungary’s GDP is in digital technology, where 15% of the country’s workforce is employed, totalling 400,000 people.

Only Finland and Ireland can boast better figures as a proportion of GDP.

1,100 IT companies have received development funds in Hungary over the past five years, aiding the rapid growth in the industry. Viktor Orban added in his speech that 8,000 more companies are due to receive development funding in the coming years. The total being earmarked in upcoming programs is 130 billion forints (€420 million).

The three day conference in the country’s capital, Budapest, expects 3,000 attendees from a total of 65 different countries.

Viktor Orban, whilst bigging up the industry in Hungary, controversially floated a policy to tax bandwidth on internet users last year. The policy was so controversial it led to mass protests all over the country and was scrapped after a couple of weeks.