“The strategic cooperation agreement between the Hungarian Government and Bank of China has opened a totally new chapter in Hungarian-Chinese economic cooperation”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Parliamentary State Secretary, László Szabó, and Chairman of Bank of China Ltd. Mr. Tian Guoli said at a press conference in Budapest.
In his speech, the Chairman of the Chinese financial institution praised the strategic cooperation agreement with the Hungarian Government and stated: “Bank of China is a committed supporter of Hungary’s economic and social development”.
Mr. Szabó said that according to the agreement, amongst others, the Bank would contribute to the financing of Hungarian projects in line with China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ policy, and in future the financial institution would be promoting the flow of Chinese working capital into Hungary to an even greater extent.
“Hungary would like to become a hub for the import of Chinese products and services to Europe and vice versa, China could also become a beachhead for the flow of European products and Hungarian small and medium-sized enterprises towards the Asian markets”, the Parliamentary State Secretary said.
“The Bank will be developing closer relations with the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA) and Eximbank, and Bank of China will also be promoting Hungary in China as a European investment destination”, he explained. According to Mr. Szabó, Hungary’s financial role could also gain strength. He pointed out that Bank of China opened its first European RMB clearing centre outside the eurozone in Budapest in 2015 and is now launching a Chinese Yuan-based debit card, which will be the first Yuan card in Central and Eastern Europe.
Chairman of Bank of China Ltd. Mr. Tian Guoli stressed: “Hungary’s ‘Eastern Opening’ policy is in absolute harmony with China’s One Belt, One Road strategy”. As an example of the excellent relations between the two countries, he cited the new Hungarian image film screened at the signing ceremony, which was also realised with the help of Bank of China financing, and which he said he hoped would attract increasing numbers of tourists to the country and contribute to more Hungarian products entering the Chinese market.
Mr. Guoli donated 20 million forints to the Hungarian-Chinese Bilingual Primary and Secondary School, with which the institution will be establishing a language lab for teaching Chinese.
Several other agreements were also concluded on Monday: the Chinese bank signed an agreement with the Hungarian National Bank (MNB), concluded by MNB President György Matolcsy in representation of the Hungarian party, in addition to which agreements were also concluded with the Budapest Stock Exchange, the Government Debt Management Agency and Eximbank.
(MTI)
