“Hungarian-American economic cooperation has entered a new dimension with the formation of the American-Hungarian Business Forum”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó told Hungarian news agency MTI after attending the founding meeting of the organisation in New York.
Mr. Szijjártó, who is on an official visit to the United States, stressed that the goal of the Council is to establish a structure between American enterprises and the Hungarian Government with which existing relations can be further developed, and to help the appearance of American investments on the Hungarian market.
The Minister travelled from Dallas to New York on Tuesday, where he signed further agreements on the increasing of Hungarian capacities, which are expected to lead to the creation of many new jobs.
Although he did not disclose the names of the companies in question, Mr. Szijjártó did tell the press that new investments are expected within the field of automotive industry-related supply, the financial services sector and the information technology industry.
The American-Hungarian Business Council has been formed by eleven corporations including Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola, Eli Lilly, Pfizer and a Warburg-Pincus.
There are one thousand six hundred American enterprises currently operating in Hungary with total investments of some nine billion US Dollars. Forty of the fifty largest American multinational companies are present in Hungary, the Minister added.
Mr. Szijjártó told the press he regarded the founding of the Council as significant because “there is cutthroat competition for American investments”. The Business Council is a necessary instrument in this struggle, which Hungary expects will boost American investment, the Hungarian Foreign Minister said, adding that Hungary’s Eximbank will be opening a five hundred million dollar credit line in the interests of achieving this goal.
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)
