The Economy Ministers of the Bulgaria and Hungary met in Budapest to exchange views on developing regional cooperation. One major topic on the meeting’s agenda was the dual vocational education system, regarding which Bulgaria has proposed further talks.

Mihály Varga said that as Hungary has been fully aware of the impact of basic work skills obtained in schools upon a country’s economy, the Government has been introducing innovative vocational education elements step by step. Since 2010, the Government has implemented a series of large-scale measures to tailor education at vocational schools and adult vocational training to requirements of the labour market. Bulgaria, on the other hand, is about to introduce a similar system right now.

The fact that the volume of Hungarian exports to Bulgaria has last year almost reached EUR 1bn, up by more than 13 percent year-on-year, shows dynamic growth in bilateral economic relations, Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga said after the talks.  At the event, the two parties also overviewed potential areas of cooperation. The Hungarian Minister highlighted the advantages expected to stem from a common Hungarian-Bulgarian industrial strategy, especially in the fields of electro-mobility, health industry, R&D and tourism. As Mihály Varga noted, Central Europe has been the EU’s most competitive region, therefore Hungary is aiming to forge regional partnerships besides bilateral ties.

Tourism has been a key growth engine for both countries, Mihály Varga added. The tourism agreement concluded between the CEE countries and China also provides a major opportunity for both Bulgarian and Hungary.

The number of tourism nights by Bulgarians grew dynamically, by more than 35 percent, over the past five years. The new scheduled flight between Sofia and Budapest launched as of 1 November will also lead to further improvement in tourism and business relations, he stressed.

The two ministers also agreed that making the most of EU funding is in the best interest of both countries. Hungary hopes to see further active involvement by Bulgaria in partnership projects of the V4+2 (the Visegrad Four as well as Bulgarian and Romania) and other regional programmes, Mihály Varga pointed out. The two countries are planning to set up an inter-governmental Joint Economic Committee.

(Ministry for National Economy)