Hungary plans to expand its network of trading houses to include 25 countries by the end of this year, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations Péter Szijjártó said on Tuesday.
Speaking at a meeting of the Foreign Trade Association (MKSZ), State Secretary Szijjártó said the network would increase the contribution of Hungarian SMEs to the country's exports and economic growth, adding that all the required instruments are available to ensure that Hungarian exports can be further increased during the upcoming years and that foreign trade can contribute to the long-term growth of the Hungarian economy.
The country must follow an export-based foreign policy during the upcoming years to ensure that Hungary is able to favourably exploit the recent changes in the global economy and be one of the winners of this process, he noted.
The State Secretary pointed out that a foreign policy focusing on foreign trade must work together with economic diplomacy to serve the enforcement of Hungarian foreign trade interests, and this requires integrated administration. The new government is to establish a unified Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Affairs, which is relatively common in other European countries such as France, Sweden and Slovakia.
Mr. Szijjártó said that the division of the foreign trade structure in 2010 with regard to the direction of foreign trade and its participants was a successful strategic decision, because at the time 80% of exports went to the EU – that is why opening towards dynamically growing Eastern markets was necessary.
The essence of the Eastern Opening Strategy is to increase Hungarian exports in general, but such that expansion is greater towards non-EU countries. Hungarian exports grew by 6% last year, reaching USD 108.6 billion, while exports to non-EU countries increased by 7%.
State Secretary Szijjártó explained that the foreign trade strategy also contains several new elements and that 549 businessmen held trade negotiations linked to the Prime Minister's 8 foreign visits, as a result of which the enterprises involved expect to achieve an export surplus of € 270 million. The export growth potential of the various bilateral economic committees, such as those established with the countries involved in the Eastern Opening, is also significant, Mr. Szijjártó added.
The Government's goal is for one third of Hungarian exports to be directed towards non-EU countries by 2018 and for Hungary to become the region's manufacturing centre, while including more and more Hungarian SMEs in foreign trade.
The state-owned Hungarian National Trading House Company (MNKH) currently operates trading houses in Astana (Kazakhstan), Baku (Azerbaijan), Moscow (Russia), Beijing (China) and Abu Dhabi (the United Arab Emirates).
The MKSZ is a non-governmental organisation established in 2002 with the purpose of strengthening the position of Hungarian small and medium-sized enterprises and helping them improve their export positions.
(Prime Minister’s Office)
