European Day of Commerce: deserved attention

In Budapest the European Day of Commerce was held for the 7th time on 3 November. Commerce generates 11 percent of the European Union’s GDP and in Hungary more than 533,000 work in trade and retail – László Krisán, chairman of the commerce and service section of VOSZ (National Association of Entrepreneurs and Employees) declared in his keynote speech. He added that instead of taking steps that jeopardise consumption, the government should focus on fighting illegal trade, which would also result in higher tax revenues for the budget. Minister of state of the Ministry for National Economy Kristóf Szatmáry told that commerce provided 12 percent of the country’s GDP and asked trade organisations to cooperate in working out a 5-10 year concept, along which the ministry can work for the development of the sector. Dr László Parragh, president of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MKIK) stated that internal demand has been shrinking for years and growth is not probable next year either. Ferenc Dávid, president of the National Association of Entrepreneurs and Employees (VOSZ) was of the opinion that next year economic growth would be around 0 percent at best and entrepreneurs would have to take care of increasing the wages of 790,000 employees in this economic environment, while details of the promised compensation are still unknown. After the speeches awards were presented, followed by a roundtable discussion, titled ‘Quo Vadis Commerce?’