“In recent years, Hungary has succeeded in developing political cooperation with Singapore based on mutual respect and friendship, and Hungarian enterprises that represent the sectors of industry of the future could profit heavily from this”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó declared on Wednesday in Singapore following talks with government representatives, and leaders from the space industry and other sectors.
During his visit to Singapore, Mr. Szijjártó met with, amongst others, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister of Trade and Commerce Chan Chun Sing, President of the Singapore Office for Outer Space Affairs David Tan, President of the Singapore Space and Technology Association (SSTA) Jonathan Hung, and the leaders of several major company groups, including ST Engineering and the Patec Group.
“In recent years, Hungary has succeeded in developing political cooperation with Singapore based on mutual respect and friendship; the two countries regularly support each other’s candidates in international organisations, and much more importantly, as open economies both are major supporters of free and fair global trade and a free and fair global economy”, he stated. “This is in the interests of Hungary, and the whole Hungarian economy”, Mr. Szijjártó said in a statement to Hungarian news agency MTI following the meetings. He drew attention to the fact that Singapore has the 3rd most open economy in the world, while Hungary’s economy is the 12th most open.
“The two countries also share a common position on migration-related issues, in view of the fact that neither voted in favour of the UN Global Compact for Migration, clearly declaring their standpoint, according to which this is an issue that falls under a national sphere of competence”, he pointed out.
According to the Minister, Hungarian enterprises that represent the sectors of industry of the future could profit heavily from the problem-free and friendly political cooperation that exists between the two countries. “Hungary’s leading space industry enterprise has already received several orders, and has had the opportunity to ship communications equipment for part of Singapore’s space program. This is a strategic cooperation that has come about within the space industry”, Mr. Szijjártó stated.
According to the Minister, Hungarian enterprises will be afforded a major role in the development of satellite programs in Singapore, in addition to which Hungarian enterprises that specialise in artificial intelligence, data processing and IT solutions are already present on the Singaporean market with major investment projects, and are being given the opportunity to take part in Singaporean development projects. “This is extremely important because Singapore is one of the world’s leading financial centres, where solutions relating to IT and artificial intelligence are only accepted at the highest possible standard, to which Hungarian enterprises have so far successfully conformed”, he stated.
According to Mr. Szijjártó, Hungarian enterprises have also been able to conform to Singapore’s food industry expectations and requirements. As an example, he cited the fact that Singapore’s imports of goose liver arrive exclusively from Hungary. “Singapore has lifted the ban previously imposed because of the bird flu epidemic, and accordingly shipments of Hungarian poultry will once again be arriving in Singapore from the end of this month. The authorities have also authorised the import of Hungarian pork products, and accordingly, despite the African swine fever epidemic, the export of Hungarian pork products to the Singaporean market is now also possible”, he explained. According to the Minister, Hungarian food industry products, which are capable of satisfying particularly high consumer requirements, could acquire an even greater market share in the Southeast Asian city state.