Hungary launches new rural development program
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The Hungarian government will begin a new program called the Szent István Program to develop rural areas, starting this fall with a pilot phase in ten regions encompassing 100 settlements and nearly 97,000 residents.
Finance Minister Kármán András will secure funding for the program in the next year’s budget, while Viktória Lőrincz, the Minister for Rural Development and Spatial Planning, will lead the professional direction.
The Hungarian State Treasury will manage the program, signing the necessary contracts by the end of the year and immediately beginning preparations. The government selected the pilot regions based on per capita income and a complex development index, finding that average income in the targeted areas is 36.7 percent lower than the national average. These regions include diverse landscapes like plains, mountains, and areas focused on agriculture, industry, and tourism, allowing for testing the new development model under varying conditions.
The Szent István Program is intended as a long-term system for rural development, allowing local communities to prioritize investments. Potential developments include improvements to transportation, public lighting, energy efficiency, water retention, healthcare, childcare, community spaces, and tourism. The program will supplement existing programs like the Magyar Falu Program and EU funding opportunities, and the lessons learned from the pilot phase will shape the final methodology and a national rural development network.
The government plans to launch the nationwide phase on August 20, 2027, potentially reaching 2,174 settlements and approximately 1.85 million people.
