Opinions & Interviews

BUDAPEST, 7 October (BelTA) – New opportunities open up for Hungarian business in Belarus in connection with the Single Economic Space (SES) of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia giving access to the 170-million common market, Belarus’ Deputy Foreign Minister Yelena Kupchina said at the Belarusian-Hungarian Economic Forum in Budapest, BelTA has learned.

The forum was held as part of the 4th meeting of the intergovernmental Belarusian-Hungarian commission for economic cooperation. Yelena Kupchina noted that the Belarusian government has been taking active steeps to promote economic liberalization. In the World Bank’s Doing Business Belarus has moved up to the 58th having approached Hungary. According to Yelena Kupchina, the Belarusian economy has been growing. In January-August the GDP expanded by 1.1%.

Hungary is gradually coming out of the recession. The economic situation has clearly improved. First tangible results of Hungary’s foreign trade policy known as "Opening to the East” are beginning to show. "Hungary’s pragmatic policy towards in-depth interaction with the Central European countries meets out common interests,” Yelena Kupchina said.

Yelena Kupchina drew attention to the fact that Hungary is consistently ranked among 30-35 main trading partners of Belarus. “We expect that this year the bilateral trade in goods and services will reach $250 million. However, I have no doubt that together we can and must reach much more serious results,” she said.