“Following lengthy negotiations, three Hungarian companies have been given licenses to begin exporting Hungarian meat to the Philippines”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced at a business forum in Manila.

In a recording of the Minister’s speech provided to Hungarian news agency MTI, Mr. Szijjártó identified agriculture as one of the key areas of cooperation between the two countries. According to the Foreign Minister, the commencement of meat exports will give significant impetus to Hungarian agricultural exports to the Philippines. Mr. Szijjártó highlighted the fact that Hungary has Europe’s most stringent food safety guidelines, and the fact that the country’s agriculture must be kept GMO-free is even included in the Constitution.

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“Whatever Hungarian food you buy, it isn’t just tasty, it’s healthy too”, the Minister highlighted.

In addition to agriculture, Mr. Szijjártó also mentioned the research and development-driven IT sector and water management as areas of potential cooperation.

According to the Hungarian Foreign Minister, trade flow between the two countries last year was some 200 million dollars, “which is a significant volume, but there is still plenty of room for expansion”, to which end Hungary and the Philippines have concluded a bilateral economic cooperation agreement and Eximbank will be opening a 510 million euro credit line to facilitate cooperation between companies form Hungary and the Philippines.

In his speech, the Minister said that the global economy had reached a turning point and a new world order was developing in world politics, thanks to which competitiveness will be determined by totally different factors than before.

“Courage and openness will mean the difference between success an failure”, Mr. Szijjártó stressed, adding that Hungary had made brave decisions to establish the continent’s most attractive and competitive business environment, had introduced Europe’s lowest rate of corporation tax and income tax at 9 percent and 15 percent, respectively, had developed an investment promotion system, and had introduced highly flexible employment regulations and a vocational training system based on the German model.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade highlighted the fact that the Hungarian environment is extremely predictable, with next year’s budget already being adopted in the summer in a way that is unique internationally.

“Accordingly, it is not surprising that Hungarian foreign trade activities broke all previous records in 2016, with the highest ever level of exports and foreign trade balance”, the Minister emphasised.

Mr. Szijjártó reopened the Hungarian Embassy in Manila, explaining that there are three reasons for this: firstly to right the wrong represented by the closing of the Embassy 22 years ago, secondly to express Hungary’s thanks, and finally to open a new chapter in bilateral relations.

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The Minister also referred to the fact that the President of the Philippines is also often criticised by human rights organisations and international institutions because of the state of human rights. “Hungary is not commenting on, and it is not its business to comment on, what happens in the internal politics of the Philippines”, Mr. Szijjártó said.

“As someone who is not a Filipino citizen, my opinion on local issues is irrelevant. It is the citizens of the Philippines who must decide on domestic issues. I came here to cooperate, not interfere”, the Minister declared.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)