Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó received President of the International Investment Bank Nikolay Kosov in Budapest on Friday, following which the Bank held its first board meeting supplemented by the ambassadors of the owning countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement to Hungarian news agency MTI.

In the statement, the Ministry pointed out that five international financial institutions have their headquarters in Europe, of which the International Investment Bank (IIB) was the first to bring its headquarters to Central Europe. “The majority of the Bank’s owners are now NATO member states, and Hungary has the second highest level of ownership at 14.7 percent. The institution had provided 76 million euros in financial resources to Hungarian enterprises to date, and has successfully launched some 50 billion forints (EUR 149 million) in securities on the Hungarian market. The International Investment Bank is contributing to the continuous development of the Central European economy, and as a result is reinforcing the region’s role as the engine of European growth”, the Ministry wrote in the statement.

(MTI)