The United Arab Emirates is Hungary's number one foreign trade partner among Arab countries, State Secretary for External Economic Relations and Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó said at a business forum organised to boost bilateral business relations on Monday.

The State Secretary emphasised that there is a lot of unused potential in the relationship  between the two countries, for example exports of Hungarian farming technologies and food products could be increased, and cooperation opportunities explored in energy, water management and biomedical research. Hungary would be glad if the UAE would also use Hungarian engineering knowledge in its infrastructural investments, he added.

UAE Assistant Foreign Minister Khalid Ghanim Al Ghaith told the forum that boosting bilateral relations would also offer Hungary access to other segments of the world market, such as Africa.

State Secretary Szijjártó highlighted that bilateral trade between the two countries last year reached 1.2 billion dollars, which the parties plan to increase in the future. He also stated that the Hungarian Government is regrouping serious capabilities for research and development. He expressed his hope that similarly to other Arab countries, cooperation based on Hungarian technologies and patents can commence with the UAE in the field of life sciences, energy and information technologies.

The State Secretary talked about the importance of an air transport agreement, with Wizzair launching direct flights to Dubai from October this year.

(Prime Minister’s Office)