Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó is on an official visit to Japan, where on Tuesday he held talks on the expansion of Hungarian food industry exports to Japan and on possible Japanese automobile investment projects in Hungary; the Minister gave a telephone statement to Hungarian news agency MTI following the negotiations.
“Japan isn’t just the largest Asian investor in Hungary, but is also an important and dynamically expanding export market for Hungarian goods, and primarily premium quality products. It is the second largest market for premium quality good such as Pick salami and Herend porcelain”, the Minister stressed.
On the second day of his two-day visit, Mr. Szijjártó met, amongst others, with President of the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) Hiroyuki Ishige, Minister of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries Yuji Yamamoto and Deputy Minister of Agriculture Yosuke Isozaki.
The Minister told MTI that the dynamic expansion of Hungarian poultry exports had been “foiled” by the European avian flu epidemic. “Accordingly, we agreed that as soon as the Hungarian authorities introduce all of the measures required to put the disease behind us, the Japanese market will be reopened to Hungarian poultry products within a very short space of time”, Mr. Szijjártó said.
An agreement was also reached on renegotiating the related bilateral agreement to ensure that in future the Japanese authorities will in similar instances only have to order an import ban with relation to the affected County, instead of at a national level.
“The success of Hungarian mangalitsa pork products in Japan could serve as the foundations for exports of similarly premium quality wild boar products to Japan”, Mr. Szijjártó told the press. During his visit, an agreement was reached on commencing negotiation on acquiring the required permits for importing wild boar meat to Japan.
Mr. Szijjártó pointed out that Japan will be the guest of honour at this year’s National Agricultural and Food Industry Expo and Fair (OMÉK) in Budapest, which will give a further boost to bilateral relations.
The Hungarian Foreign Minister also held talks with representatives from JAPIA (Japan Auto parts Industries), President and CEO of Suzuki Mr. Toshihiro Suzuki, and representatives of Toyota and Bridgestone.
“Japanese car manufacturers represent the second most important pillar of the Hungarian automotive industry following the German manufacturers”, Mr. Szijjártó highlighted. “Japanese companies are continuously expanding their presence in Hungary and clearly regard Hungary as one of the centres of their European activities”, the Minister emphasised.
Mr. Szijjártó told the press that there would also be new investments in Hungary thanks to his negotiations on Tuesday and the final decisions on these projects will be announced at a later date together with the companies involved.
The Hungarian Foreign Minister highlighted that his automotive industry negotiating partners had provided positive feedback with relation to Hungary’s recent tax measures, which have provided Hungary with the most attractive investment environment in the EU. Government measures introducing mobility subsidies and the restructuring of the Hungarian vocational training system were also welcomed.
An agreement on the signing of a strategic partnership agreement was also concluded with automotive industry, infocommunications and electronic parts manufacturer Sumitomo Electric.
A Working Holiday Scheme agreement was also concluded within the framework of the Foreign Minister’s visit, aimed at easing the conditions required for young Hungarians aged 18-30 who are in Japan for no longer than a year as students or tourists to take on employment. “These young people will be able to make good use of their Japanese work experience during the course of later employment in Hungary”, the Minister highlighted.
(MTI)
