Szijjarto Meets Belarus Counterpart

Budapest, April 28 (MTI) – Hungary’s foreign trade chief Peter Szijjarto, co-chair of the Hungary-Belarus economic joint committee, met Alena Kupchina, his counterpart and deputy foreign minister of Belarus, for talks in Budapest today.

Bilateral trade between Hungary and Belarus grew by 7.3 percent and totalled 250 million dollars last year, after a five-year tendency of contraction, Szijjarto’s press chief told MTI.

“The growth figure is evidence that bilateral cooperation has some serious potential, which will contribute to Hungary’s efforts to help small and medium-size companies to export markets,” Judit Fulop quoted Szijjarto as saying during the talks.

Hungary’s Eximbank and the Belarussian Development Bank have set up a pool of 10 million dollars to finance development of Hungary’s exports, the press chief noted adn added that negotiations between the two governments were under way in preparation for an investment protection agreement.

Parties at the talks agreed that bilateral cooperation would focus on pharmaceuticals, engineering, and farming.

Under an earlier agreement between the two co-chairs, the government of Belarus has now lifed earlier restrictions and Hungary will restart its beef exports to Belarus on April 30.

Photo: MTI

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