Hungarian-Vietnamese relations could intensify and move a higher level, agreed Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam Nguyen Thien Nhan and his Hungarian hosts; the Vietnamese Prime Minister was the guest of Deputy Speaker István Jakab at an official lunch held in the Parliament building on Tuesday.

State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations Péter Szijjártó and Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam Nguyen Thien Nhan jointly declared that Hungarian-Vietnamese relations may begin a new chapter and further intensify.

State Secretary Péter Szijjártó acknowledged the 5% economic growth achieved by Vietnam in recent years, adding that Vietnamese relations have an important role in the Opening towards the East policy. The State Secretary said that the best foundations for long-term economic cooperation are relations between people. The Hungarian Government is committed to the invigoration of bilateral economic relations in which the system of tied aid loans play an important role, he said.

State Secretary Péter Szijjártó declared that the Hungarian Government is proud of the fact that Hungarian companies are building the water system of a Vietnamese province and have begun installation of the country’s population registration system within the framework of the tied aid loan programme. Concerning the utilisation of nuclear energy he said that similarly to Vietnam, Hungary affords the issue significant importance and both governments will do everything in their power so that a bilateral agreement on nuclear education may be signed during the Vietnamese presidential visit in Hungary in September.

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan said that there have been diplomatic relations between Hungary and Vietnam for 63 years and during this time more than 4000 Vietnamese students have completed their university educations in Hungary, many of them achieving great recognition at home in the fields of science or commerce, and in public life, sometimes even as Ministers. He added that the Vietnamese region consists of 10 countries that comprise a market of 400 million people and the gateway to this market for Hungary could be Vietnam, emphasising that cooperation between the two countries could create great opportunities within both the fields of culture and the economy.

(Prime Minister’s Office)