“The body will discuss practical proposals that could already be drafted into legislation in the spring session of Parliament,” Varga told the paper. “These measures will mean a tangible improvement for local businesses, as well as a big step forward for competitiveness in international comparison in the short term,” he added.

The council, which met for the first time Thursday, is comprised of leaders from the private and public sectors as well as academia, and was established last year to express opinions and produce recommendations that aim to improve competitiveness.

Varga said the councilʼs work would involve “the heads of the most important domestic and international business chambers, heads of big businesses, heads of consultancies and researchers.”

“We invited the kinds of people, the kinds of experts from organizations that have the broadest possible knowledge of the challenges facing the Hungarian economy,” he said, adding that the council would meet “relatively often” in the spring. “Of course, long-term, more complex ideas will come up at the meetings, and weʼll leave them more time to prepare those, considering the specifics,” he added.

The Ministry for National Economy said the councilʼs members include Varga, the economist Magdolna Csath, AmCham Hungary President Farkas Bársony, Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA) President Róbert Ésik, MOL Chairman-CEO Zsolt Hernádi, the head of McKinseyʼs Budapest office Levente Jánoskuti, Siemens Zrt. Chairman-CEO Dale A. Martin – who is also head of the German-Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DUIHK) – and László Parragh, head of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MKIK).