Hungary to sign economic cooperation agreement with West Virginia

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó will sign an economic cooperation agreement with the governor of the US state of West Virginia, Jim Justice, on Tuesday.

Ahead of the signing ceremony in Charleston, the state capital, Szijjártó told MTI by phone that

Hungarian-US cooperation was a success story in economy and defence, and, “since the Republican government has been in office, also politically.”

West Virginia and Hungary have similar development trajectories, the minister noted. West Virginia has had the largest GDP growth among US states, and Hungary achieved the same among EU member states. Both have “broken records in employment rates and exports” thanks to bold policy decisions, Szijjártó said.

The cooperation agreement is of special importance with regard to the chemicals and ICT sectors, the minister said. Dow Chemical is West Virginia’s biggest company and the chemical industry is tied to 40 percent of the US state’s output, he said.

West Virginia is also the home to an important network of data centres, and upgrades of those centres pose an opportunity for Hungarian IT companies, he added.

While in Charleston, Szijjártó is scheduled to hold a speech at a local university and meet representatives of Dow Chemical, defense contractor Azimuth and pharmaceutical company Mylan.