The Hungarian Export-Import Bank (Eximbank) and Hungarian chemical giant Borsodchem have signed a 70 million euro loan agreement; the company will receive funds for export development, which will also make it possible for Hungarian small and medium-sized enterprises to play a greater role as the company's suppliers.

Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga informed Hungarian news agency MTI of the news on Friday, reminding the press that Eximbank had acquired new resources in December through a USD 500 million bond issue. "A significant part of these funds are still available and it is expected that similar loan agreements will be concluded in the near future", the Minister stated.

Mihály Varga called the agreement the largest export incentive loan in recent times, adding that Wanhua, the Chinese owner of Borsodchem, is the largest distributor of chemical industry products in both Asia and Europe. The loan is expected to help the company increase its European exports, but the Government also hopes for increased export volumes to Asia and other markets.

Mihály Varga pointed out that of last year's EUR 80bn total export volume, the major part, EUR 60bn, was shipped to countries within the European Union with only 10 billion euros each going to non-EU European countries and the rest of the world, respectively. "We would like to ease this one-sidedness in future", the Minister said. Accordingly, the Government is searching for partners who can export not just to Europe, but also to other continents, and is prepared to involve Hungarian small and medium-sized enterprises in increasing exports. Hungarian SME's are currently responsible for only 11 percent of the total export volume, he added.

(MTI)