“Hungarian and Belarussian economic cooperation is a market that holds perspective for both countries” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Minister of State for Cultural and Science Diplomacy and Co-Chair of the Hungary-Belarus Inter-Governmental Committee for Economic Cooperation István Íjgyártó said on Thursday at an event organised by the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

At the business forum, the Minister of State stressed with relation to Friday’s session of the Hungary-Belarus Inter-Governmental Committee for Economic Cooperation that in order to properly exploit the opportunities inherent in economic relations we must find the required levels of cooperation, and in addition to the realisation of major projects, the forging of relations between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) also play an important role in this.

Mr. Íjgyártó highlighted the fact that cooperation is being facilitated by the fact that there is a direct air passenger service between Budapest and Minsk, and that dependable funding systems have been established to help SMEs reinforce economic relations.

Deputy Foreign Minister and Belarussian Co-Chair of the Hungary-Belarus Inter-Governmental Committee for Economic Cooperation Oleg Kravchenko said Belarus was also introducing the required measures to facilitate production and investment cooperation, including, amongst others, the establishment of legal information centres, where Hungarian businesspeople can acquire information on local regulations, in addition to which Belarus is liberalising its economy, establishing investment zones and has a trained workforce. According to Mr. Kravchenko, Belarus is also an ideal location for entering the Eurasian market.

Vice President of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sándor Fasimon explained that Hungarian-Belarussian economic relations are stable, and thanks to cooperation between the two countries’ chambers the reinforcement of relations between the two countries has not a present and a future.

Vice President of the Belarussian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sergei Nabeshko pointed out that cooperation between the two countries’ chambers of commerce and industry is facilitating the effective forging of relations, citing the fact that Budapest Days were held in Minsk in April of this year, in addition to which delegation exchanges are also helping both sectoral and regional cooperation.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)