The Deputy Prime Minister said that important steps must be taken for Hungarian hunting, game management and hunting culture to regain their former glory, and for Hungary to become a great power in hunting. As examples he mentioned the rationalisation of firearms legislation, strengthening the role of the National Chamber of Hungarian Hunters, and the establishment of a game management fund of several billion forints.

In his address Mr. Semjén said that the hosting of the World Hunting Exhibition in Hungary will be based on three pillars, the most important being the refurbishment of the HUNGEXPO Budapest Exhibition and Convention Centre, and obtaining the licence necessary for organisation of the event from the Bureau of International Expositions. The programmes will be coordinated by a government commissioner, and the project company responsible for implementation of the exhibition in Hungary has already been registered.

Minister of Agriculture István Nagy highlighted that FeHoVa is a major event for the Carpathian Basin’s hunters, anglers and nature lovers, and it is also an opportunity for state forestry companies to showcase their role in social responsibility to a wider audience. This in turn contributes to enhancing the reputation of forestry, he added.

Gábor Ganczer, Chief Executive of HUNGEXPO, described FeHoVa as an annual celebratory meeting for hunters and anglers where this year also many new products and features will be presented. The FeHoVa International Open Taxidermy Championship will be held for the first time.

Three hundred exhibitors from seventeen countries registered for the event, which continues until Sunday. The organisers are expecting more than 50,000 visitors.

Government Commissioner Zoltán Kovács added that the Government will allocate some HUF 50 billion for the refurbishment of the entire HUNGEXPO site, thereby creating the infrastructure and logistic conditions for the organisation of international events to the highest world standards, such as the 2021 World Hunting Exhibition and the 2020 Eucharistic Congress.

In his welcome speech, Minister of Agriculture István Nagy stressed that the Ministry of Agriculture supports sustainable hunting with all the means at its disposal. As an example he mentioned that statutory provisions have been introduced which permit the adjustment to the borders of regions. Thanks to the new regulations, in the future the only hunters exempt from the requirements to take an examination to receive a hunting licence will be bow hunters, hunters using birds of prey and those hunting with Hungarian greyhounds. He noted that another recent government decree ensures the availability of direct funding for the development of Hungarian game management.

The Minister also said that a particular priority of the Ministry is support for the nature conservation and public welfare programmes of state forestry companies. During the 2014–2018 period these companies spent almost HUF 5.9 billion on creating new public welfare facilities and refurbishing and extending existing ones. At present some two thousand forestry public welfare facilities throughout the country are publicly accessible free of charge.

At the exhibition opening, the cooperation agreement of the “One With Nature” World of Hunting and Nature Exhibition (World Hunting Exhibition) was signed. Hungary plans to host the event in 2021. Minister of Agriculture István Nagy appointed Kossuth and Jászai Mari Award-winning actor Gábor Reviczky as the Ambassador of Hungarian Forests.