Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Sir Suma Chakrabarti, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), exchanged views on the role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and with relation to the transfer of technology in Budapest on Monday.
The two parties agreed on the outstanding role SMEs play in national economies, the importance of technology export and the need to increase energy security. It was also discussed that the EBRD would soon start negotiations on its country strategies for the period 2015-18.
The Hungarian Prime Minister and Sir Suma Chakrabarti also concluded that the net volume of investment related to EBRD cooperation in Hungary has amounted to EUR 2.7 billion since 1991. The EBRD President is holding talks on cooperation within the SME, financial and energy sectors this week. Prior to his visit, Sir Chakrabarti gave an interview to Hungarian correspondents at the bank’s headquarters in London.
The EBRD was established more than two decades ago with the aim of financing the transformation of the Central and Eastern European regions, and it thus has a long history in developing the region’s SME sector.
(Prime Minister’s Office)
