Hungary and Turkey agreed to further intensify this year’s growing bilateral trade relations that broke records last year - Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó stated via telephone from Ankara.
The Minister, who paid a two-day visit to the Turkish capital, stated: The two countries are planning to strengthen their economic ties in four areas, namely the mutual support of investments, the re-launch of Hungarian livestock exports and the establishment of the Turkish electricity network and “nuclear support industries” with Hungarian participation.
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Turkey plays an important role in Hungarian foreign trade strategy, as it has a dynamically growing economy, Péter Szijjártó stated, who was received in the Turkish capital by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He also conducted talks with Minister of Economic Affairs Nihat Zeybekci, Minister of EU Affairs Volkan Bozkir and Minister of Healthcare Mehmet Müezzinoglu, the Turkish co-President of the economic joint committee.
The Minister reminded: The two countries agreed – at the time of Erdogan’s visit to Budapest in his capacity as head of state in 2013 – on increasing bilateral trade to USD five billion annually. Last year Turkish-Hungarian trade in goods and services grew by 26 percent to USD 2.6 billion, while in the first eight months of this year a 7.4% additional increase was registered - he stated.
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To further encourage Turkish investment in Hungary in addition to the current estimate of USD 100 million, a fund of EUR 50 million has been established to subsidise the mutual investments of small and medium sized enterprises. The Hungarian government is expecting an additional growth in exports of USD 130-150 million from the re-launch of sheep and cattle exports - he emphasised.
Péter Szijjártó also expressed that Hungary is a dedicated supporter of Turkey’s European integration. „We think that Europe needs a new momentum and dynamism. A country that is capable of demonstrating this rapid economic growth, such as Turkey, could surely give Europe a new momentum and impulse”, explained the minister. He also said that the traditionally good culture and tourism related cooperation is a good basis for long-term economic and trade cooperation.
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The head of Hungarian diplomacy also noted that Turkey as a transit nation plays an important role in getting Azerbaijani gas to Central Europe, which was a central topic of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Budapest this week. Hungary plays a significant role as a transit nation of Turkish trade to Europe; in connection with this the Turkish party requested to increase the number of permits of transit transport.
During his Ankara visit, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó met the leaders of several large Turkish companies and the management of the Turkish- Hungarian Trading House, and held a lecture entitled „The Future of the European Union” at the Faculty of Economics and Management of TOBB University.
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)
