On Thursday, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó reopened the Hungarian Consulate General in Chicago, which was closed in 2009.

The Minister said that the Consulate General plays a key role with regard to both the economy and national policy because a Hungarian community of 35-40 thousand people lives in the American Midwest, in and around Chicago. Moreover, there are many companies in the region that are already active in Hungary or plan on investing in the country.

“It was important to open the Consulate General to make it easier for the large Hungarian community here to maintain ties with the parent country and to enable us to have an economic presence here through which we can maintain direct ties with the large corporations operating here”,  the Minister said.

He noted that the American Midwest plays a key role in Hungarian-American economic relations, as also evidenced by the fact that Hungary succeeded in increasing its exports to the United States by 20 percent last year.

Péter Szijjártó emphasised : “This is a record-breaking figure, and for the first time, Hungary’s exports to the United States were higher than exports to Russia”.

The Minister noted that Hungary achieved an additional 3 percent increase in exports to America in the first half of this year.

“We expect the Consulate General to further improve the successful facilitation of our economic interests. Our presence here allows us to respond more quickly and provide more rapid solutions to investor demand”, he said.

Mr. Szijjártó noted that in addition to the leading European countries, Hungary’s regional competitors such as Romania, Poland, Lithuania, Serbia and Macedonia also operate consulates general in Chicago.

“We cannot suffer a competitive disadvantage through providing a slower response to emerging demands,” added Péter Szijjártó.

The Minister also mentioned that he had held talks with the heads of local Hungarian organisations and institutions. On Friday, he plans to meet local businesspeople and Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel.

Mr. Szijjártó reminded the press that Hungary’s previous administration closed the Consulate General in Chicago in 2009, prompting a letter of protest from local Hungarian organisations. Some 150 people, mainly Hungarians, had attended the reopening ceremony of the Consulate General, he said.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)