On 4 December 2017, The ’ASEAN Business Forum - Doing business in ASEAN’ one day event – jointly organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Hungarian National Trade House Ltd – was held in Budapest with the aim of promoting business opportunities in Southeast Asia for Hungarian companies and to expand their access to the region’s markets. Besides the accredited ambassadors and the members of the Diplomatic Corps, more than 50 Hungarian companies were represented at the Forum.

On the invitation of the organizers, the event was attended by Lim Hong Lin, Deputy Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) who gave insight through his presentation into the characteristics of the business nature in the ASEAN region and the fields available for mutually beneficial business cooperation.

In his opening remarks, Deputy State Secretary Szilveszter Bus commended the relations between the region and Hungary, and confirmed our strong interest in its further development. Mr. Bus also pointed out the continuous and balanced economic growth and the growing middle-class that feature Southeast Asia, increasing significant interest of Hungarian companies to enter these markets. The efforts of the Hungarian diplomacy made in the last 3 years are verified by the 14% increase in the volume of trade between ASEAN member countries and Hungary that was achieved in the first 9 months of 2017.

Within the framework of the Forum, Hungarian companies already present in the region shared their experiences about the markets of Southeast Asian countries, while representatives from ASEAN Member States' Embassies in Budapest presented their experiences and expectations regarding economic opportunities in the region and cooperation with Hungary. The programme of the Forum included Workshop trainings dedicated to the representatives of the Hungarian business sector in order to facilitate their successful entry into Southeast Asian markets.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)