Improving relations between Hungary and Iran, among them the health industry partnership we have started, are expected to open up great opportunities for Hungarian enterprises, Minister Mihály Varga said after having met with Minister of Health S.H. Zadeh Hashemi in Tehran. The Minister had arrived in Iran for a two-day official visit on Saturday with a delegation of twenty businesspeople and several high-ranking officials of state institutions.

Hungarian-Iranian economic relations have been growing dynamically: the volume of bilateral trade soared by 140 percent year-on-year in 2016, totalling USD 80 million, the Minister said, adding that the main aim of this visit was to tighten relations with the country of a potential market of 80 million people.

The signing of an MoU on health industry cooperation earlier today is a step in line with this aim, as this deal is expected to pave the way for Hungarian companies to Iran in the field of the pharmaceuticals, medical equipment manufacturing, cosmetics, biotechnology and medical herbs sectors, the Minister noted. The MoU also covers direct partnerships between educational institutions and research centres and it encourages the mutual visits and knowledge transfer of students and professors, Mihály Varga said.

There are already some major results in economic cooperation, the Minister pointed out, as a treaty on the avoidance of double taxation has come into effect this year. And at the first meeting of the Hungarian-Iranian Economic Joint Committee in February this year, an MoU was signed on the development of cooperation between SMEs and industrial parks, and on closer cooperation in tourism.

At the talks, the two parties agreed that bilateral economic relations were set to improve further, given the rising volume of bilateral trade in bus manufacturing, medical equipment manufacturing, the oil industry, energy equipment manufacturing and agricultural products, he noted.

(Ministry for National Economy)