“In the current situation there is a great need for predictable and reliable partners, and Azerbaijan is a stable partner, ally and friend of Hungary”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Sunday in Baku at the opening of the Hungarian-Azerbaijan business forum.

At the business forum organised as part of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s two-day official visit to Azerbaijan over the weekend, the Minister stressed: 2015 was an exceptional year for Hungary, Europe and the world, which faced several unforeseen challenges last year, and remaining successful while continuing to face up to these challenges requires dependable partners.

Mr. Szijjártó also said that the structure of Hungarian-Azerbaijan economic cooperation must be reorganised and pinpointed five areas in which relations could be tightened further. These are the information technology (IT) sector, infrastructure development, water management, energy and agriculture, he explained.

Hungarian-Azerbaijan relations are based on mutual respect and friendship, and the conditions for the establishment of mutually advantageous economic cooperation are given, the Minister said. We cannot ignore global changes and must take into account developments in the global economy and world politics, all of which must provide an incentive for bilateral cooperation that enables both countries to face challenges more easily, he stated.

Wizzair’s soon-to-be-launched new direct flight between Budapest and Baku will also facilitate the development of bilateral cooperation, the Minister noted.

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Following his speech, Mr. Szijjártó told reporters that Hungarian-Azerbaijan economic cooperation would be entering a new dimension, the background for which is being provided by the Hungarian Government, which has approved a 200 million US Dollar credit line at Eximbank for the development of bilateral business relations.

Four intercompany agreements were concluded at the forum, he announced. One of them concerns agriculture and instead of simple exports Hungarian enterprises will be realising investments in Azerbaijan, primarily within the field of animal husbandry technologies. An agreement was also concluded on the so-called smart city concept, meaning Hungarian enterprises will be shipping city management technologies to Azerbaijan. In addition, two agreements were signed within the field of IT: Hungarian companies will be involved in the introduction of the proportional road toll system under consideration by Azerbaijan, in addition to which an agreement was concluded on the provision of IT systems and with relation to transferring public administration and trade onto electronic foundations, he detailed.

Mr. Szijjártó stressed that these four agreements assure greater success than last year within the field of bilateral commercial and economic cooperation, despite the fact that in Azerbaijan low oil prices and the devaluation of the local currency are having an especially negative effect on foreign trade.

The forum is being attended by 49 businesspeople from 44 Hungarian companies, in addition to which 116 Azerbaijan enterprises are being represented at the event.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)