Central Europe will be the next decade's fastest-growing region within the European Union, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said at a Hungarian-Turkish business forum in Istanbul on Tuesday.
Addressing about 200 Turkish businesspeople, the Prime Minister stressed that they can definitely rely on Central Europe becoming the engine of growth of the European economy.
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Hungary is part of this region and the Government has recently turned the country into a production hub, where foreign capital is invested at an exceptional rate, he added. "We have laid the foundations of a successful Hungarian economy, but we need a few more years to complete this work," he said.
Regarding Turkish-Hungarian economic ties, which have a long history, the Prime Minister said that the visa problem has just been resolved since, in line with a new agreement, Hungary can now issue a two or three-year EU visas to Turkish businesspeople.
He praised the development Turkey has undergone in recent years, adding that coming from the EU, it is great to see a country that knows what it wants and knows where its future lies. He expressed his hope that Hungary, along with other EU member states, will learn from the success story that Turkey has achieved.
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At the forum, Hungarian Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga said that Hungary aims to further increase annual bilateral trade with Turkey, which currently amounts to around 2 billion dollars.
Viktor Orbán is visiting Turkey with a large political and business delegation including businesspeople involved in construction, the food industry, infocommunications, agriculture, the machine and metal industry, the pharmaceutical and chemical industry, environmental protection and water management.
(Prime Minister’s Office)
