On Monday, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations Péter Szijjártó and Romanian Minister of Economy Andrei Gerea agreed in Bucharest to convene the Hungarian-Romanian joint economic committee.

The session is scheduled to take place in February 2014 in Budapest.

State Secretary Szijjártó stressed Hungary's strategic interests in developing economic cooperation with Romania, Hungary's sixth biggest trading partner, adding that Hungarian exports to Romania amounts to EUR 4.8 billion, which Hungary intends to increase.

He also said that the main item on the session's agenda will be the mutual promotion of investments, to which end Hungarian Eximbank has concluded an agreement with Hungarian OTP Bank’s Romanian subsidiary in order to help Hungarian firms invest in Romania.

The two politicians also agreed to give a boost to the building of border stations, which they see as a key contribution to economic development. Hungary would like to discuss the construction plans of 26 new border stations which could be completed within the 2014-2020 EU financial period.

Hungary would also like to make progress in the field of energy cooperation and has submitted a draft inter-governmental agreement to Romania on carrying out joint research on hydrocarbon deposits.

Péter Szijjártó is participating in the China-CEE summit in Bucharest as part of the Hungarian delegation led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

(Prime Minister’s Office)