It is a district seat, an important market town and event center, and its economy is primarily agricultural and light industrial. Its place in the investment market is determined primarily by its geographical location, transportation facilities, and proximity to the county seat.
Transport and logistics
Szentlőrinc is situated south of the western range of the Mecsek Hills, alongside the main road No. 6. The county town is just 20 km away, and what’s more, the two towns are connected by a high-quality, dead-straight main road. The route of the A6 is favourable, as it effectively bypasses the town, running along its northern edge. The significant volume of transit traffic it carries therefore does not pass through the centre of Szentlőrinc, whilst the benefits of the fast road link are retained.
The Croatian border is only about 30 kilometres away as the crow flies, but due to the nature of the road network, the border crossings are further away: Drávaszabolcs is 42 km away, and Barcs is 46 km away.
The nearest junction on the motorway network is the Pécs-Kelet exit on the M60 motorway, which is 26 km from the town. However, plans are underway to extend the road to Szigetvár and then on to Barcs. Once the extension is complete, there will be an access road right next to Szentlőrinc, which will further improve the town’s transport links.
Szentlőrinc is an important railway junction. An electrified, albeit single-track, main line runs here from Pécs: it is here that the No. 40 main line to Budapest and the No. 60 line, running via Nagykanizsa to Szombathely, branch off northwards. This is the terminus of branch line No. 61, arriving from Sellye in the Ormánság region. The rail service is of a high standard, with a particularly frequent timetable. Trains arrive regularly every two hours from Sellye, and even more frequently from Pécs. InterCity trains stop at Szentlőrinc, providing a fast and comfortable connection to the capital. The frequency of services makes the railway suitable for daily commuting, and Szentlőrinc station is suitable for the rail transport of large volumes of goods.
The frequency and standard of local bus services are adequate. The busiest routes naturally run along the main road towards Pécs and Szigetvár. Regular bus services are provided from the smaller villages to the north and south of the town, ensuring that passengers can arrive in time for the start of the working day.
Infrastructure and public services
Szentlőrinc boasts well-maintained local infrastructure and a well-kept townscape. The roads are in satisfactory condition, with the busiest routes heading south and east being dual-carriageways. Along Pécsi út towards Tarcsapuszta, and southwards to the cement factory in Királyegyháza, there is a dedicated cycle path, mainly used for commuting.
Baranya Víz Zrt. is responsible for the drinking water supply, sewage disposal and the operation of the sewage treatment plant.
District heating for the town is provided by the municipally-owned Szentlőrinci Közüzemi Nonprofit Kft. Thanks to the modern geothermal heating plant commissioned in 2011, the heating for around 900 homes – a quarter of the town’s households – is supplied entirely from renewable sources.
As the district centre, Szentlőrinc is the seat of the district office. However, due to the district’s low population, its services are limited: the administrative and child welfare departments, the employment department and the government service centre are available locally. For other matters requiring attention, residents must travel to Pécs.
To speed up local government procedures relating to investments, the town plans to introduce a one-stop shop system for businesses.
The National Chamber of Agriculture maintains a village agronomist’s office in the town, which is open to clients three days a week.
Primary healthcare is provided by three general practitioners, two paediatricians and four dentists. There are 0.82 doctors per 1,000 residents in the district. Outpatient specialist care is provided at the Eszterházy Health Centre: half a dozen different specialist clinics, a health visitor service, a laboratory, physiotherapy and physical therapy are available at the centre. The annual caseload is 52,549 people. Szentlőrinc provides the central out-of-hours medical service for the region. Patients must travel to Pécs for specialist consultations or hospital treatment not available locally.
The town has a crèche, two nursery schools (with 220 children) and a primary school (with 534 pupils). The town has had the primary school building and its gym renovated in recent years. Secondary education is provided by the Ujhelyi Imre Agricultural Technical College, Vocational School and Boarding School, where students can train as agricultural technicians on a five-year course or as farmers on a three-year course. The institution has 213 students in the 2020–21 academic year.
Together with a further sixty-five local authorities and roughly the same number of companies and entrepreneurs, the town is a member of the Synergy Association, established to implement Leader projects. The primary aim of this collaboration is to facilitate market access for local producers and to manage grant applications that help exploit tourism opportunities.
The Szentlőrinc Entrepreneurs’ Association was established in 2018 to develop and build economic, market and business relationships among local and neighbouring enterprises, and to contribute to the establishment and maintenance of domestic and international partnerships. They support local initiatives and programmes, and work together to promote their interests.
Key economic players
The economy of Szentlőrinc is remarkably diverse. Among local businesses, those in the agricultural and service sectors predominate, whilst one of the county’s largest heavy industry plants, the Királyegyháza cement factory, operates just a few metres from the town’s administrative boundary. The impact of Pécs’s proximity should not be overlooked: it tends to attract the largest companies, and there are many commuters among the workforce.
Of the town’s 917 registered businesses, 154 are companies, of which 125 are actually in operation. In addition, there are 763 sole traders.
Every August, the Baranya County Business Centre organises the Szentlőrinc Farmers’ Days at the market square in the western part of the town, which is the largest agricultural fair in the entire region. A lobby party, focused more on networking than sales, is held there in early September.
Without claiming to be exhaustive, here are a few examples of the more important businesses in Szentlőrinc:
- Mova-Trans Kft. – A Hungarian-owned company specialising in domestic and international freight forwarding.
- Perspex Kft. – A Hungarian-owned company specialising in packaging technology and printing solutions.
- Fukotherm-Plusz Kft. – A Hungarian-owned company specialising in the manufacture of plastic door panels.
- Drávapack Kft. – A Hungarian-owned company manufacturing paper-based packaging materials, which, as a rehabilitation employer, employs a high proportion of people with reduced working capacity.
- Agro-Lőrinc Kft. – A company engaged in arable crop production and the distribution of agricultural produce.
- Lafarge Cement Magyarország Kft. – A French-owned, large international company engaged in cement production. It is something of an odd one out on the list, as the cement factory is located within the administrative area of the neighbouring town of Királyegyháza, although it is only a few metres from the boundary of Szentlőrinc. However, in terms of employment and other factors, it has a clear impact on the town’s economy.
Areas designated for economic purposes
There are 36 hectares of land available for commercial use in the Szentlőrinc industrial estate. The outskirts of the town are effectively surrounded on all sides by a ring of businesses of varying sizes.
The approved objectives of the local settlement development strategy include the establishment of a logistics centre in the area between the railway line and the cement factory. This would help local products reach the market whilst simultaneously improving the employment situation in the area.
The industrial area designated for development is located on the northern outskirts of Szentlőrinc, on Munkácsy Mihály Street. Here, alongside the smaller workshops and factories already in operation, there is an opportunity to carry out larger-scale investments through greenfield development.
Another area earmarked for development is on the eastern side, around Törökföld and Attila Streets. Here, there is potential to create ten building plots, with sufficient space for a further 36.
The town market supports sales opportunities for local farmers. It does not have a covered hall; traders can lay out their goods on tables provided for selling.
Plans include the creation of an incubator to facilitate the entry of start-ups into the market.
Economic support and tax policy
The town has set a reduced rate of 1.8% for the local business tax for businesses. The local authority does not levy building tax or land tax.
A system of preferential land sales or leases linked to investment and job creation is currently being developed.
The local authority supports businesses by providing business advice, informing them about national funding opportunities and managing property lettings.
Local authority investments
Among the developments currently underway, the construction of a cycle path leading to Tarcsapuszta – which falls under the town’s administrative jurisdiction – is particularly noteworthy.
Long-term objectives include the wider use of geothermal energy, which is currently used only to supply heat to district-heated homes and institutions. Connecting new consumers will require the expansion of the existing pipeline network and, where necessary, an increase in capacity. The technology offers an energy solution that is favourable for newly established companies and sustainable from an environmental perspective.
The city is planning to renovate a vacant, council-owned building on Deák Ferenc Street, where, alongside local authority offices, offices would be created for businesses.
