Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 10 July (BelTA) – Belarus and Hungary should bolster bilateral cooperation, Prime Minister of Belarus Mikhail Myasnikovich has said as he met with State Secretary for External Economic Relations and Foreign Affairs of the Office of the Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Szijjarto on 10 July, BelTA has learnt. Peter Szijjarto is also co-chair of the Belarus-Hungary intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation, BelTA has learnt.

Mikhail Myasnikovich told Peter Szijjarto about his vision of the bilateral cooperation. He reminded that in the first years since Belarus proclaimed independence, it had great expectations from cooperation with Hungary. The expectations were boosted by projects and similar economic development patterns of the two countries. In the 1990s Belarus and Hungary maintained an intensive dialogue in trade, economy and politics, however, later the bilateral relations had to be updated,” the Premier said.

“Last year saw some reduction in the bilateral trade. We have few joint projects, while existing projects make little headway,” the Belarusian head of government said. Mikhail Myasnikovich noted that Belarus maintains close ties with other states: “We actively cooperate with Russia and Kazakhstan within the framework of the Customs Union; our cooperation with China and several countries of Southeast Asia is also on the rise. We are actively penetrating these markets by establishing a free trade area with these countries, among other things. Now we are working on the formation of a free trade area with the ASEAN member states”.

Speaking about cooperation with other countries, Mikhail Myasnikovich noted that Belarus and Hungary should also ramp up bilateral ties. “We should seriously analyze what kind of projects we could run with Hungarian businessmen,” he said. The Belarusian head of government expressed hope that the visit of Peter Szijjarto to Belarus will give a boost to the bilateral ties.

“Today Hungary boasts considerable economic and political potential; therefore, we would be glad to start new projects with your country,” the Premier said. He added that Belarus is ready to consider various cooperation avenues, including joint projects with the private sector.

In 2012 the trade between Belarus and Hungary totaled $210 million, down by 5.3% compared to the same period last year.

The Hungarian business community has been getting increasingly interested in doing business in Belarus. The most promising cooperation areas include production of lighting engineering and car components and construction industry. Establishment of a joint venture to assemble MAZ buses in Hungary remains on the agenda.

A new foreign policy adopted by the Hungarian government in April 2012 gives a bigger focus to the eastern dimension of Hungary’s foreign economic ties. The strategy focuses on establishing closer ties with rapidly expanding markets of China, India, Russia and other countries of the region. Belarus is also viewed by the Hungarian government as a promising partner for boosting trade and intensifying mutual investment flows.

Belarus’ FDI raising strategy for the period until 2015 prioritizes areas, like pharmaceutical industry, biotechnologies, nanotechnologies, transport and logistics, construction, development of high technologies in manufacturing, agriculture as well as information and communication sector.