“The role played by SMEs in economic cooperation between China and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe must be increased”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Monday at the roundtable discussion organised within the framework of the China-CEEC 16+1 Summit currently being held in Budapest.
At the panel discussion on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of the economic, trade and financial forum, the Minister stressed: A new world order has begun in which the previous principle according to which capital flows from West to East is no longer valid, in view of the fact that these days at least as much capital comes from East to West and large and successful Far Eastern enterprises are appearing on the European and American markets. “This new situation must not be regarded as a threat, but as an opportunity that the countries of Central and Eastern Europe must make use of”, he declared.
“SMEs provide the backbone of the Hungarian national economy, and one of the best ways of supporting them is through convincing more and more large companies to invest here, because SMEs will also be included among their suppliers”, Mr. Szijjártó explained.
The 16 countries of Central and Eastern Europe are both friends and each other’s competitors in the battle for investments, he said. “Amongst others, Hungary is offering foreign investors a low rate of corporation tax and funding for research & development and new investments that apply new technologies”, he stated.
The Minister said it was also important that Hungarian enterprises appear on the Chinese market, and that the areas in which Hungarian companies can achieve success in the Asian country must be chosen with care. Such areas include water management, the food industry and the IT sector, for instance, he listed. Cooperation between China and the CEEC countries will be facilitated by the many agreements that are being concluded on the sidelines of the Summit, Mr. Szijjártó said.
Vice Minister of China Commerce Shan Zhong spoke about the fact that the 16+1 has grown to become an important framework for cooperation in recent years, and SMEs are a significant engine of this cooperation.
As he explained, the countries involved see 16’1 cooperation as an excellent opportunity. The first forum of this kind was organised in 2011, and since then cooperation has become increasingly important and effective, which could give major impetus to the ongoing Summit, he said, adding that enterprises from China and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe have developed strong ties in recent years. Representatives of Chinese and Hungarian enterprises will be signing several cooperation agreements with a total value in excess of 800 million dollars, Mr. Zhong said.
(MTI)
