Minister in India: Eastern opening ‘true success story’

The government’s opening to the East policy has been a “true success story”, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Friday. Szijjártó told an India-Hungary business forum in Delhi that the policy was based on the economic projection that the role of the East would continually grow.

“Fantastic economic growth is proof of the strategy’s acuity,” he added. Over twelve years, exports to the East increased by 45 percent, while trade between Hungary and the East grew by 48 percent, he said, adding that some 60 percent of foreign investments in Hungary came from the East.

Szijjártó opened the forum in the company of Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi. He said that trade between Hungary and India has been record high for several years, reaching 1 billion dollars last year after 26 percent annual growth.

“Based on these figures, we can say that the Hungarian economy has taken its share of India’s economic growth,”

he added.

Szijjártó said that to bridge the great geographical distance between the two countries, the governments had set four tasks, and it was was up to businesses to grasp the ensuing opportunities.

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The first is to maintain good relations between the governments based on mutual respect, he said. After the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war,

the Hungarian government helped 6,218 Indian citizens to safely leave the area. Also, 1,257 Indian students applied in a Hungarian higher education scholarship scheme and an additional 200 Indian students won places in Hungarian universities under the arrangements of a general scholarship scheme, he said.

The next two tasks involve the signing of contracts and agreements on financial conditions, he said. Hungary’s Eximbank has opened a 560 million euro credit line to promote Hungary-India business opportunities.