Orbán calls for Hungarian-Egyptian ‘flagship projects’

Cairo (MTI) – Egypt and Hungary should invest in joint “flagship projects”, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told an Egyptian-Hungarian business forum in Cairo on Wednesday.

Orbán told the forum that if these major investments are successful, their benefits will trickle down and encourage further investments.

The prime minister noted that earlier in the day the two countries signed an agreement containing a financing offer for Egypt’s order of 700 railway carriages.

He said Egyptian investors lining up to do business in Hungary would be shown “positive discrimination” by the Hungarian institutional system.

Speaking about Hungary’s economy, Orbán said the reason the country had rebounded after 2010 was because “the entire country understood … that this was our last chance.” He said that although the economy may not be “soaring”, it is now on a successful growth path.

He called Egypt’s economic potential “nearly limitless”.

Orbán encouraged businessmen at the forum to get involved in Egypt’s modernisation programmes, with which he said they could generate profits and even contribute to the country’s stability.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi told the forum that his country had worked hard to attract investments and is now planning new major projects, such as oil and gas field developments and an expansion of the country’s main airport.

Egypt aims to be among the world’s 30 fastest-growing economies and targets a 6 percent GDP growth rate for the 2017-18 fiscal year, the president said.

Orbán arrived in Egypt late Tuesday for an official visit. He and his delegation of government officials and business leaders will stay until Thursday.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters