House speaker opens OMÉK agriculture and food expo in Budapest

The output of Hungary’s agriculture sector is the result of the year-round hard work of more than 200,000 Hungarian farmers, House Speaker László Kövér said at the opening of the 78th National Agriculture and Food Exhibition (OMÉK) in Budapest on Wednesday.

Kövér said the OMÉK was continuously growing in drawing power, noting that the biennial event is expected to draw some 100,000 visitors this year. The house speaker attributed this to rising demand for healthy GMO-free Hungarian agricultural products.

He said that

the motto of this year’s event, “Treasures of the Carpathian Basin”,

referred to the importance of a regional approach as well as the attention devoted to Hungarian farmers beyond the border and non-Hungarian farmers of the region.

Output of Hungary’s agriculture sector totalled over 2,619 billion forints (EUR 8.5bn) last year, Kövér said, adding that farm exports increased by 37.5 percent in the past six years. The sector’s foreign trade surplus also increased by 34.9 percent in the same period, he added.