Kis, whose mandate begins on January 1, 2007, spoke on Thursday at a meeting of officials and company leaders who will be affected by developments in the region. Development plans include the construction of a rapid rail line connecting Záhony with Budapest, as well as a better road connecting Zahony with the M3 motorway in nearby Nyíregyháza.

Trains carry an annual 6 million tons of freight through Záhony, up from 4.5 million tons at the start of the 90’s, but well under the 16 million tons before the fall of communism, Kis said. A further 1.5 million tons of goods travel by truck through the city each year. Almost all of the freight is packaged outside of Záhony. With the planned developments, Záhnoy could boost the level of freight it handles each year to 16 million tons again, and it could be the site where most of this freight is packaged, Kis said. (Mti-Eco)