Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 6 November (BelTA) - Belarus welcomes the progress in the priority areas of bilateral cooperation with Hungary, Belarus’ Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Oleg Kravchenko told the media following the 9th session of the Belarusian-Hungarian intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation, BelTA has learned.

“Belarus and Hungary have made progress in a number of priority areas for bilateral cooperation since the eighth meeting of the Belarusian-Hungarian intergovernmental commission in Budapest. We have agreed to further cooperation in such areas as agriculture, water management, food processing, banking, finance, investment, standardization, science and innovation, construction, tourism, and education,” Oleg Kravchenko said.

The bilateral trade in goods and services has been growing since 2017. There is a new area of cooperation, namely construction. A joint Belarusian-Hungarian venture in this sector was set up in July 2018. “I hope we will be able to maintain these trends and consolidate on them,” he said.

The draft agreement between the governments of Belarus and Hungary on promotion and mutual protection of investments has been finalized. Oleg Kravchenko expressed the confidence that the agreement will serve as an additional incentive to implement investment projects in the two countries.

For his part, Csaba Balogh, the State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, said that Belarus and Hungary should use the opportunities of bilateral cooperation more intensively.

Meetings of the Belarusian-Hungarian intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation and business forums have been conducted since 2009. Working groups have been set up to promote cooperation in tourism, science and technology.