Hungary has become a competitive state which in the past few years has grown into a production hub and should further develop into an area for European innovation, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Monday. Opening the 3rd Hungarian-Turkish Business Forum, he stated that although bilateral trade figures are remarkable, the level of investment is still low between the two countries. Efforts should be made to have at least one flagship investment project in both countries, he added.
He emphasised that Hungary today tries to succeed within a European Union that is expecting slower growth than that of the Hungarian economy. The country has seen the crisis as an opportunity to reorganise and become a European production hub, he added.
Prime Minister Orbán also highlighted that Turkish-Hungarian relations rest on trust and praised Turkey's political leaders for their courage to set targets, such as to become one of the world's ten strongest economies by 2023.
Turkish President Abdullah Gül, who is on an official visit to Hungary, also addressed the Forum, where more than 500 Hungarian and Turkish businessmen participated. He stated that business links with Turkey have great profit potential at low risk. The two countries make many similar products, with car manufacturing being a significant industry in both countries, but they should find the areas where their economic cooperation can be intensified, he added.
Turkish companies' investment in Hungary totals around 60-70 million dollars which is significantly less than in many other countries. This gap shows that businesspeople have not yet recognised the potentials in bilateral relations, President Gül said. Excellent political cooperation between Hungary and Turkey, however, offers a sound basis for developing closer economic ties, he added. A potential area of cooperation is the energy sector and Hungarian and Turkish companies could enter third markets together, for instance in Central Asia and the Caucasus, he said.
Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga said that Hungary aims to double bilateral trade with Turkey by 2015, adding that Hungary is ready to intensify trading in vehicles, electronics, pharmaceuticals and information technology, as well as in food products. Further areas of potential cooperation include environmental protection, energy, medical technology and health tourism, he stated.
State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations Péter Szijjártó pointed out that agreements signed during past Hungarian-Turkish business forums have resulted in 110 million euros worth of new business. Trading between the two countries increased by 27 percent in the first eleven months of last year and Turkey has become Hungary's fifth biggest trading partner outside the European Union.
(Prime Minister's Office)
