Hungarian-Baltic forum hold in Budapest

Budapest, March 16 (MTI) – Hungary’s trade with the Baltic states rose by 9 percent last year alone and doubled since 2010, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said at a business forum in Budapest on Wednesday.

In his closing remarks Szijjarto said economic ties are planned to be made stronger with the help of a 370 million euro credit line secured by Eximbank for cooperation between Latvian, Lithuanian, Estonian and Hungarian companies.

Szijjártó noted that keeping the Schengen zone intact is a vital issue for all four states, as they are all “open economies”.

He said a company already present in Hungary with “British background and using an Estonian knowledge base” is soon to announce opening of a new service centre in Budapest, creating jobs.

On the subject of relations with Russia, the foreign minister said that Moscow is important as an economic and trading partner for all four countries and that he trusts EU-Russian relations would move along a positive track in terms of security policy, economic and trade ties.

Estonian Foreign Minister Marina Kaljurand told the forum that bilateral trade between Estonia and Hungary totalled 257 million euros last year, and in her opinion, there was room for further growth.

Lithuanian deputy economy minister Rasa Noreikiene said relations among the Baltic states and Hungary were especially strong in rail and road transport as well as in the vehicle industry.

Latvian foreign ministry state secretary Andrejs Pildegovics said Latvia was interested in Hungary’s trade experiences with Asian countries, especially China.