Central Europe is a fast-growing and exceptional region, and “the future is in this region”, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Wednesday at the Singapore-Hungary business forum in Singapore.

“During the next 15-20 years, the centre of European economic growth will be in Germany and Central Europe, and accordingly it is worth investing in this region”, the Prime Minister told the businesspeople present, adding: “Central Europe, and within it Hungary, has responded to global economic challenges with rapidity, flexibility and market-friendly regulations”.

“The goal of the Hungarian delegation visiting the Southeast Asian country is to convince businesspeople from Singapore that it is worth taking part in the success story made possible by the development trajectory of the Hungarian economy”, he explained, adding that “similarly we would like to convince Hungarian businesspeople to take part in the success story provided for by development in Singapore”.

The Prime Minister expressed his hope that at the next Hungary-Singapore meeting the parties will be able to report on “the growing economies of two countries that are following their own paths”.

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Presenting Hungary, Mr. Orbán told the Singapore businesspeople: We are a country, in which there are no raw materials of natural resources, but we do have “large neighbours with healthy appetites”, and we have some one thousand years of national experience at our disposal. It is from these capabilities that we must achieve results, but “the modern age is playing into the hands of the Hungarians” because “raw material intensive” global economic development is increasingly shifting towards a “knowledge-intensive” economy, he continued.

According to Mr. Orbán, the competition between countries will not be decided by who is large and who is small, but by who is fast and who is slow, meaning who is capable of transposing state-of-the-art scientific results into its economic life the most rapidly.

“Singapore has recognised this law, and has realised that it must create something that did not previously exist: this is the key to Singapore’s success”, said the Prime Minister, according to whom Europe, and within it Hungary, needs something similar.

Mr. Orbán told those present that Hungary is expecting to achieve economic growth of around 4 percent this year.

The Prime Minister said that the great question of the future was linking production and digitalisation, adding that Hungary is making excellent progress in this regard. He cited, amongst others, the major funding for research & technology and the proliferation of super-fast internet access.

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At the forum, Singapore’s Minister of Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang praised improving Singapore-Hungarian bilateral relations. “Hungary offers excellent opportunities for Singapore enterprises thanks to its strategic location”, he said, pointing out that several companies from Singapore are already present in Hungary, and calling for further partnership between enterprises from Hungary and Singapore.

The Minister also highlighted the fact that bilateral relations will be significantly increased by the coming into force of the free trade agreement between the European Union and Singapore.

In closing, he drew attention to the fact that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Singapore is also a member, represents a very rapidly developing region.

At the forum, an agreement was concluded between the two countries’ chambers of commerce, in addition to which the Hungarian National Trading House Cls. and the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA) also concluded agreements.

Following the meeting, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó issued a statement to Hungarian news agency MTI concerning details of the inter-governmental agreements concluded between Hungary and Vietnam during the official visit. “Last year, Hungary and Singapore realised 630 million dollars in trade turnover, and bilateral economic and trade relations are expected to further expand thanks to the agreements we have now concluded”, he explained.

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The Minister spoke about the agreement concluded between the two countries’ food safety authorities, thanks to which Singapore has issues licences for the import of Hungarian beef and rabbit meat, meaning all that is left is the accreditation of Hungarian meat industry enterprises, after which shipments of Hungarian beef and rabbit meat to Singapore can begin. This is particularly important in view do the fact that since it has very little agricultural activity, Singapore imports practically all of its food, he pointed out.

Mr. Szijjártó also mentioned the new aviation cooperation treaty, which has created the legal basis for a possible direct air passenger link between the two countries, with relation to which negotiations will be held with Singapore Airlines in future.

One of the important prerequisites for the further expansion of economic relations between Hungary and Singapore is the final conclusion of the free trade agreement between the European Union and Singapore, he continued, pointing out that both the European Parliament and the EU’s national parliaments must ratify the agreement. “Hungary is planning to be one of the first to put the issue before Parliament”, he announced.

With relation to the newly signed education agreement, the Minister explained that Hungary will be receiving 30 scholarship students from Singapore every year.

In closing, Mr. Szijjártó pointed out that Singapore investments in Hungary are growing dynamically, citing as an example the fact that one of Singapore’s largest automotive industry suppliers will be opening a plant in Miskolc next year.

Prime Minister Orbán’s official programme in Singapore came to a close with the business forum and the business people’s meeting that followed it.

(MTI)