Budapest to host 2017 World Export Development Forum

Budapest, October 12 (MTI) – Budapest has been awarded the right to host the World Export Development Forum in 2017, Hungary’s foreign minister told MTI on Wednesday.

Péter Szijjártó, who is attending the 16th forum in Sri Lanka, said winning the right to host the next one was a major commendation for Hungary.

Hungary is an open economy whose strength depends greatly on investments and exports, the minister said. Therefore any event that increases Hungary’s visibility in the area of foreign trade contributes to its economic growth, Szijjártó said, adding that Hungary supports free trade.

The digital revolution, as a new phase of the global economy, carries greater significance than the industrial one, he said in his address, adding that all countries must embrace the new “economic-industrial-trading age” to be successful.

Hungary has “put its foreign policy in the service of its foreign economic objectives” as well as crafting a digital trading platform for businesses and private individuals dubbed Digital Hungary.