“Export opportunities to countries outside the EU are very promising”, Minister of Agriculture Sándor Fazekas said on Hungarian M1 television’s and Kossuth Radio’s morning programs.

“As the worlds most rapidly growing economic regions, Asia and Africa offer significant export opportunities for Hungarian agricultural products”, the Minister explained, adding that in the past six years Hungary’s agriculture exports to the Asian, American, Australian and Oceanian regions have increased by almost double the rate of growth of exports to the countries of the European union. “Agrarian trade flow with third countries increased by 11 percent in 2016. Exports to Turkey, China, Jordan, Malaysia and Algeria have seen outstanding increases, and Hungarian food products are also present in Japan, Ukraine and Russia”, he said.

“The greatest demand on the part of third countries is for Hungarian beef cattle, pork and poultry, goose meat and milk/milk products”, the Minister listed. According to Mr. Fazekas, interest on the part of third countries in highly processed and premium quality products is becoming increasingly strong. “In Japan, for instance, a thousand restaurants are already offering Mangalitsa pork and Tokaji wine”, he said. During their recent meeting, Turkey’s Minister of Agriculture indicated that the country would gladly receive higher added value products, in addition to which the Turkish party is ready to begin construction of a Hungarian slaughterhouse in Turkey as a joint venture.

(Ministry of Agriculture Press Office)