Trade Turnover with Hungary Still Leaves Much to Be Desired

Baku hosted the sixth in a row meeting of the Azerbaijani-Hungarian Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation.

In his welcoming remarks, the Minister of Economy of Azerbaijan Shahin Mustafayev said on the activity of only six companies with 100% Hungarian capital in Azerbaijan, advising businesses from Central Europe to actively invest in local businesses.

According to him, there is progress in this matter - for the time more than 40 cooperation agreements have been signed, including the promotion and mutual protection of investments and avoidance of double taxation. Today, they have been added another document - the Memorandum of Understanding between the Association of Industrial Research and Innovative Technological Parks in Hungary and Sumgait Chemical Industrial Park.

"On the figures - by 1 June of this year, the bilateral trade increased by 62%," the Minister said, ashamed to call the volume of trade unsatisfactory and saying the potential is not used even half-heartedly.

"I would also like to note that Azerbaijan first exported transformers to Hungary, and the Hungarian Eximbank will examine the possibility of providing financial support for the implementation of the rail corridor North-South, as was agreed in principle at a meeting with my colleague - Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations Peter Hungary Siyyarto," Mustafayev said. --17D-