The foreign minister said a HUF 103 billion (EUR 287m) electronic road toll system to be built in Indonesia by Hungarian company Roatex will be Hungary’s biggest technology export so far.
Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, told a press conference in Jakarta that the project, expected to be completed by 2023, was a “milestone” in Hungary’s foreign economic strategy.
The minister said that 70 percent of the “technology and skills” for the project would be Hungarian. Indonesia has 2,500kms of highways, and this is expected to rise to 4,800kms. He said Indonesia was an important element of Hungary’s strategy of opening up to the East which started 11 years ago. The minister added that there were no unresolved issues to burden bilateral relations.
Talks are under way concerning a 50 million dollar subsidised loan program under which Hungarian companies would build a meteorological and climate monitoring system in Indonesia, the minister said.
Minister Szijjártó also noted that Hungary offered scholarships to Indonesian students, adding that 1,200 were interested in studying at Hungarian universities and colleges this year. Currently 13 Hungarian universities are in cooperation with 23 Indonesian institutions, he said, adding that in view of high demand the Hungarian government was ready to increase the number of scholarships offered.
The two ministers also agreed that their countries would make bilateral trade more balanced and sustainable in the long run, to which end a central warehouse for Indonesian products would be set up in Budapest.
Photo credit: Facebook/Szijjártó Péter