AM: We continue to support raising the standard of living in rural areas

By: STA Date: 2023. 11. 22. 09:30

Our goal is to create high-quality projects in the period ahead, which will continue to promote prosperity in the countryside, said Minister of Agriculture István Nagy at the LEADER national meeting in Budapest on Tuesday.

(Photo: AM/Tibor Vermes)

The head of the ministry emphasized that the LEADER program is one of the pillars of the rural development support policy. The closest to the local economy and local businesses are the LEADER, so thanks to this, the most useful announcements and the most useful decisions for the local economy are made at this level. As part of the Rural Development Program, a total of 843 calls were published between October 31, 2017 and August 7, 2023. And by November 16, approximately HUF 65 billion had been accepted, which means more than 13,000 subsidized applications related to various types of development.

István Nagy pointed out that as the Rural Development Program is coming to an end, the current LEADER program, which has been running since 2014, will also end

This will be replaced by the new LEADER initiative based on the Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan. He added that as a first step, 103 previously operating and two newly established Local Action Groups have already been recognized. Their task is to implement the rural development strategy of the given region, as well as to use EU funds for rural development with the involvement of local communities. He emphasized that all 105 action groups have prepared drafts of their Local Development Strategies, which have already been approved by the Managing Authority.