Thanks to the Memorandum of Understanding on economic cooperation scheduled to be concluded in the coming days between the United Arab Emirates and Hungary, Hungarian enterprises will be offered new economic opportunities, Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga said, following a meeting with Minister of Economy Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansoori from the United Arab Emirates.

Mihály Varga received in his office a high-level delegation to discuss details of the MoU designed to bolster relations between the two countries. This document, along with diplomatic relations established in 1990 and a treaty on avoiding double taxation concluded in 2013, provide a firm foundation for long-term economic cooperation between Hungary and the United Arab Emirates, he stressed.

In the opinion of the Mihály Varga, the MoU may enable Hungarian enterprises to successfully join urban development projects in the Emirates and the two countries to tighten relations in the field of innovation, food industry and water management. Mihály Varga emphasised that the economic performance of past years places Hungary among the most economically reliable countries in the region. A stable economic growth path, rising household consumption and subdued inflation offer a favourable investment environment also for enterprises from the Emirates.

Among successful cooperation projects, the Minister singled out the investment project of the Emirates Group implemented last year: the airline opened one of its six main global customer service offices in Budapest and the project, valued at several billions of forints, created 300 new jobs in the city.

Mihály Varga also highlighted the building of a packaging material producing facility in Tiszaújváros by the Dubai-based Taghleef Industries and hotel investment projects by companies from the Emirates. The latter projects improve the image of Budapest as a tourism attraction, similarly to the Budapest-Dubai direct flights launched last year. At the meeting, the ministers also discussed the option of building a food logistics centre in Hungary.

(Ministry for National Economy)