Construction sector output shrank 7.8 per cent in 2011, continuing the downward trend of recent years according to data from the Central Statistical Office (KSH) this week.

The European Commission has asked for expert advice from Hungarian state holiday fund MNÜA regarding the Erzsébet voucher (Erzsébet-utalvány) scheme for tax-saving benefits, daily Népszabadság has reported. The investigation follows complaints by multinational retailers in Hungary claiming that discriminatory MNÜA policies are forcing them out of the scheme.

Unexpectedly good agricultural production figures helped Hungary’s economy to rise a surprise 1.4 per cent yr-on-yr in the fourth quarter of 2011, preliminary figures from the Central Statistics Office (KSH) showed on Wednesday.

It has been compulsory since 1 January for all businesses to register with their local chamber of commerce and pay the annual fee of HUF 5,000 (EUR 17.10).

Norwegian-owned mobile services provider Telenor saw its mobile internet customer base in Hungary double in 2011 but its yr-on-yr revenue declined HUF 0.7 billion (EUR 2.41 million) in the fourth quarter.

We have already had the Széll Kálman Plan for economic renewal and the Darányi Ignác Plan for agriculture; this week Fidesz unveiled its latest hommage to a politician from 19th-century Hungary: the Imre Mikó Plan.

Chemical manufacturer DonauChem will carry out EUR 10 million worth of development in Hungary over the next three years, Franz Geiger, the CEO of DonauChem’s Austrian parent company, told business daily Világgazdaság on Wednesday.

First estimates by the Central Statistical Office have revealed that foreign guests spent 10 million nights in hotels, hostels and guesthouses in 2011, with arrivals and tourism nights seeing yr-on-yr increases of 6 per cent and 3 per cent respectively.

EMABIT, the non-life insurance subsidiary of CIG, is planning to enter the Polish travel and liability insurance market, business daily Napi Gazdaság said on Wednesday.

The Hungarian state wants to sign a cooperation agreement with South Korea about the peaceful utilisation of nuclear energy, a proposal published in the government gazette Magyar Közlöny reveals.