Budapest, Tunis trade chambers sign cooperation pact

The Budapest and Tunis chambers of commerce and industry signed a cooperation agreement at a Hungarian-Tunisian business forum in Budapest on Wednesday.

The deal covers cooperation in agriculture, the food industry, infrastructure development, water management, renewable energy, IT and construction, Zoltán Kiss, head of the Budapest Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BKIK), said at the forum organised by the BKIK and the foreign ministry.

The agreement will provide a framework for members of the BKIK and Budapest-based companies to pursue business opportunities with Tunisian partners, Kiss said.

Citing data from the Central Statistical Office (KSH), Kiss noted that trade turnover between Hungary and Tunisia came to 148 million dollars last year. The value of exports came to 96 million dollars while imports totalled 50 million dollars.

The Hungarian government is working hard to strengthen economic ties between the two countries, foreign ministry state secretary Levente Magyar said.

Magyar noted that Hungary and Tunisia celebrate a triple anniversary in 2016, as the year marks the 60th anniversary of Tunisia’s independence, Hungary’s anti-Soviet uprising and the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

He said that the tourism sector served as one of the key pillars of economic cooperation between Hungary and Tunisia. Therefore, in order to ensure that bilateral tourism cooperation can continue to develop, Hungary, as a friendly gesture, had left the security rating for Tunisia unchanged, in the second category after a terrorist attack there in June 2015.

Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui expressed his gratitude to the Hungarian government for its efforts in aiding his country’s tourism sector and urged further steps to boost bilateral tourism ties.

Photo: MTI

Source: MTI