“In Mexico City, Hungary’s Eximbank and Latin America’s best-operating investment bank, Mexico-based Bancomext, have concluded an agreement on funding investments on the part of Hungarian enterprises in Mexico, in addition to which Eximbank employees will be receiving training at Mexican state financial institutions”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade informed Hungarian news agency MTI on Wednesday.

In his speech at the signing ceremony, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó recalled: “Five years ago, Hungary launched its Southern Opening policy, through which, amongst others, it would like to tighten relations with the countries of Latin America”. “The success of the programme is supported by the fact that Mexico has become Hungary’s number one trade partner in all of Latin America”, he stated.

“Bilateral trade flow is for the moment being driven by Hungarian exports”, the Minister continued, explaining that exports of Hungarian goods and services contributed 877 million dollars out of last year’s bilateral trade flow of over one billion dollars. “Budapest’s goal is clearly to further increase this trade”, he declared.

“It is extremely good news that more and more companies are expressing interest”, he added. “It is important for Hungary to have references and flagship companies such as Richter and Graphisoft, which can later be followed by smaller enterprises, medical instrument manufacturers, food industry companies, automotive industry enterprises and water management companies”, the Minister said.

“Last year, Richter’s turnover from Latin America exceeded 30 million euros. Mexican company Nemak’s plant in Hungary, which has concluded a strategic partnership agreement with the Hungarian Government, supplies practically every one of the world’s major automotive industry corporations”, Mr. Szijjártó listed.

“In view of the fact that the geographical distance between the two countries is extremely large, it is important for us to assist our enterprises and provide them with information and a hinterland for cooperation”, he stressed. “For this reason, the Hungarian Government has opened a 620-million-dollar credit line to facilitate the Mexican activities of Hungarian enterprises and to facilitate business relations between enterprises from the two countries”, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed.

“I think the next stage in the progression of Hungarian-Mexican economic relations into a new dimension is that not only do we trade here and sell here, and not only do you invest in Hungary, but Hungarian companies also begin to invest here in Mexico. The support of Bancomext and the training it will be providing is vital to this, however”, the Minister said in his speech.

Mr. Szijjártó said that within the field ifs international economic cooperation Hungary is concentrating on areas in which professional knowledge is what counts, not quantity. “The food industry and agriculture are also key areas. Hungary has included the fact that Hungarian agriculture and the Hungarian food industry shall remain GMO-free in its Constitution”, he pointed out.

Mr. Szijjártó said the newly-signed agreement between the Fisheries Research Institute of the  Hungarian Centre for Agricultural Research and Innovation and its Mexican counterpart is extremely important. He expressed his hope that cooperation based on the transfer of technology and know-how will be successful and advantageous to both parties despite the geographical distance.

“In Hungary, agriculture provides seven percent of the gross national product, but if we add to this the funding spent on agricultural scientific research, the know-how and technology accumulated there, and the agricultural machine industry, it provides 16-17 percent of the country’s GDP, which is an extremely significant ratio”, he stated.

“We are believers in and supporters of free trade. We believe that the freer global trade, the better we can exploit its opportunities, and for this reason Mexican businesses are counting on us with relation to modernising the global cooperation agreement between the European Union and Mexico”, the Minister said in closing.

(MTI)