The Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI) signed a cooperation agreement with the China Council for Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) at the Hungarian-Zhejiang Investment and Trade Forum in Budapest on Thursday.
At the Forum, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Parliamentary State Secretary László Szabó highlighted: “China is important to Hungary. Hungarian export dynamics are outstanding, with an increase in exports of over 20 percent last year to one of China’s most important provinces, Zhejiang. The business forum provides an opportunity to establish the highest possible Hungarian economic presence in China”. The parties would like to not only increase exports of Hungarian goods, but also technologies, and there are already many examples of mutually beneficial trade contracts, he added.
Mr Szabó also mentioned that the Hungarian Government has striven to establish an investor-friendly environment and has reduced corporation tax. Major investments can achieve levels of tax as low as 10 percent, from which they can receive an 80% exemption during the first ten years of operation. Hungary’s policy of opening towards the East is in harmony with China’s “One Belt - One Road” programme and personal meeting facilitate opportunities for business development, he noted.
The development of financial relations is indicated not only by the Eastern and Central Europe regional centre opened in Budapest by Bank of China last year, but also by the State of Hungary’s Renminbi bond issue this year, which was oversubscribed by 250 percent, he added.
The modernisation of the Budapest-Belgrade railway is the first development project of the One Belt - One Road programme and also the largest ever European investment by the Chinese Government, Mr. Szabó said.
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)
