The economic life of Balassagyarmat

Balassagyarmat has an advanced infrastucture compared to its size. There are more than 18.000 inhabitants in the town and more than 6.500 flats for them. The water supply is entirely built, the required water is coming form one base 14 kms from the town. Recently the water consumption is 4000 m3 but the waterworks is able to provide the double. Two-third of the flats are connected to the drainpipe. The two-third of its roads and pavements are covered with asphalt.
Balassagyarmat can be reached from Budapest by car from the direction of road number 2. forking from mainroad number 22. The road from Budapest to Balassagyarmat by bus lasts for 2 hours. Direct bus services start every hour to Budapest and Salgótarján, too. One can reach to Slovakia (Losonc) by bus from Balassagyarmat according to to international timetable once in a day.
A 1.5 kms long landing strip is available near the town hospital that had a national importance formerly but it waits only for hospital helicopters.
The settlement is the center of the customs, and the border guard in the territory from Parassapuszta to Salgótarján near the frontier.
There are more than 100 legally registered economic organizations and the number of not registerd ones is higher.
There are more than 1000 registered enterpreneurs in the town however the number of unemployed is close to 20%. The high number of unemployment in this region pairs with a low average payments. Since the town can be qualified as a school-town the bigger part of the joblesses graduated at high schools and some of them has university degree so in Balassagyarmat there are favourable terms of creating workplaces.
The trainig of the workforce can be adjusted relatively easily to the market's requirements, since in the town there are more secondary schools with high flexibility.

The town has hardly any mineral resources however for the food industry has a good agricultural surroundings.
The traditional branch of agriculture in this region is the growing of fruits, vegetables, and corn and keeping animals. The growing of berried fruits like raspberry, currants, blackberry, strawberry, or grains, potatoe and cucumber or keeping cattle and pig is outstanding in this region of the country.
Formerly it was traditional to grow maize, sunflower and stone-fruits like plum, cherry or sour cherry, or to keep rabbits, pigeons and sheeps.
In the field of food industry in the town the milling, the distilling, the meat and canning industry always had a big role in the economic life dating back the last century, but unfortunately these main branches are closed down or working with financial problems.