Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Tuesday in Hanoi that “Vietnam is one of the engines of economic development of the Southeast Asian region, and therefore it is in Hungary’s external economic interests to tighten its cooperation with the country”.

The Minister pointed out that Vietnam’s economy grew by more than seven percent last year.

The politician also announced that an agreement has been signed in Vietnam concerning the construction of the South Vietnamese region’s largest, 500-bed oncological hospital, which will be built by Hungarian companies and financed by a tied aid of 60 million euros.

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Minister Szijjártó also reported on the fact that other Vietnamese regions had also indicated their intention to realise development projects via similar tied aid constructions in cooperation with the Hungarian Government, and accordingly the two countries have begun negotiations on a $ 500 million credit line. Vietnam will soon decide which projects they would like to realise and there is a good chance that Hungarian companies will have the opportunity to construct the Hanoi water treatment plant on the Red River or develop the country’s population registration system to national level.

Péter Szijjártó recalled that two Vietnamese investment projects of a similar nature have already been realised out with Hungarian support at a value of € 10 million each.

The politician also announced that trade between Hungary and Vietnam grew by more than ten percent last year and now totals some EUR 150 million. Mr. Szijjártó and his Vietnamese colleagues identified three fields in which progress can be expected: the pharmaceutical industry, where Hungarian company Richter has been present in Vietnam for decades and is set to be favourably affected by upcoming legislative changes, the interconnection of automotive industry capacities, and agricultural exports, with relation to which export licences for several Hungarian fruit products have recently been applied for.

The Minister also announced that an agreement on education had also been signed during his visit to Hanoi. According to the agreement, Hungary will increase the number of Vietnamese scholarship students studying in Hungary. Mr. Szijjártó pointed out that 3000 Vietnamese students have already completed their studies in Hungary to date and 367 are currently studying at Hungarian higher education institutions. He also mentioned that the training of Vietnamese nuclear engineers will continue this year with 100-150 participants.

During his various meetings in Vietnam, the head of Hungarian diplomacy also highlighted the fact that Budapest would like to be one the pillars of cooperation between the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Countries (ASEAN).

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)