Szijjártó: East-West cooperation no hazard

Cooperation between the East and the West should be considered “a great opportunity rather than a hazard with both sides benefitting”, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Geneva on Thursday.

The foreign ministry quoted Szijjártó as saying at the general assembly session of the World Intellectual Property Organisation that the competition between the East and the West “has intensified but also levelled out in recent years”. Serious geopolitical challenges and “politicisation of the world economy” are pointing towards the world being divided into blocs once again, “the worst news for Hungary,” the minister said, and called for “connectivity” and a rational and mutually beneficial division of labour between East and West. “Our peoples have a vested interest in civilised East-West cooperation rather than isolation into blocks and animosity,” he said.

Hungary is an “excellent example” for that cooperation, Szijjártó said, adding that the country had become an important hub for Eastern and Western investments, with special regard to electric car making. “We, Hungarians can profit a lot from becoming the new European centre for that innovative industry,” Szijjártó said.

Citing a recent report by WIPO, Szijjártó said Hungary ranked fifth in a global comparison with regard to its high-tech production and tenth in exports, while it was 95th regarding the size of its population.

Szijjártó said the number of engineering and ICT students had increased by 34 percent in a single year, while the number of engineers in the research and development sector doubled, adding that the number of small and medium size companies with innovative products had increased by 73 percent. “This is the best possible path for a small country without a coastline or vast energy resources,” he said.