The deputy prime minister of Turkey has arrived in Hungary for talks on trade and investment and Hungarian and Turkish relations.
Hungary's Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén received his Turkish counterpart, Veysi Kaynak, in Parliament on Tuesday to discuss the pressing issues facing the two nations.
"The Turkish economy has progressed significantly in recent years and it is therefore important for Hungary to maintain well-balanced economic ties with Turkey," Mihály Varga, minister for National Economy, said following the meeting.
Both countries’ governments support the development of economic ties and agreements to avoid dual taxation and to encourage and protect investment in each other’s countries also serve this aim, Varga said. Turkey is one of Hungary’s most important trade partners in the Balkans, he added.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2013 set a medium-term target to have bilateral trade reach an annual 5 billion HUF, Minister Varga said. Currently annual trade totals around 3 billion HUF, so there is room for improvement, he added.
Cooperation opportunities are not fully utilized in several areas, including agriculture, especially livestock transports, he said. Varga added that electricity projects, biomass production and the transfer of Hungarian know-how in nuclear energy are additional areas for cooperation, as well as water and sewage treatment and flood protection.
The stability of Hungary’s economy attracts foreign capital and nearly six hundred Turkish companies have set up business in Hungary, employing more than a thousand people, he said.
Several Hungarian companies have set foot in Turkey, mostly in IT, and also in the dairy industry, printing and sewage treatment.
Varga said that tourism cooperation was also discussed at the meeting and noted that expanding air transport links boost the sector in both countries.