Montenegro is an important foreign trade partner and we want to strengthen this relation not only with investments but also with trade developments, Minister of State for Economic Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Levente Magyar said at a press conference following the meeting of the intergovernmental Hungarian-Montenegrin economic joint committee on Tuesday in Budapest.
According to the Minister of State, the launch of a direct flight service between Podgorica and Budapest is fundamental for the development of the Hungarian-Montenegrin relations, and is also essential both from the point of view of business and tourism. He recalled that Hungary is the second largest investor in Montenegro among the EU member states.
Much-needed progress in trade relations can be facilitated by the representation opened by the Hungarian National Trading House Ltd. in Podgorica, and by a credit line of EUR 45 million opened by Eximbank to promote cooperation between the Hungarian and Montenegrin small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), he added.
He also reported that among other issues, they consulted about the energy industry at the meeting since MVM Hungarian Electricity Ltd. (MVM Magyar Villamos Művek) is considering entering the Montenegrin electricity and gas market to make use of the favourable environment created by the ongoing privatisation process in Montenegro, which is in expert evaluation phase for the time being.
He recalled that Montenegro might join the European Union and NATO soon, and Hungary is to send an expert to Podgorica to help Montenegro prepare for the EU membership, providing assistance during the accession negotiations and in drawing EU funds more effectively.
Minister of Sustainable Development and Tourism of Montenegro Branimir Gvozdenovic thanked the assistance Hungary provided to Montenegro throughout the Euro-Atlantic integration, and called the negotiations encouraging during which they managed to determine deadlines and priorities, such as energy, tourism, agriculture, the administration of justice and education.
The Minister welcomed the possibility of launching a direct flight service that in his view could be started after the Prime Minister’s visit in June.
He was of the opinion that Montenegro is one of the most dynamically developing tourism destinations and is one of the few, rare countries in the world where one can ski and swim in the sea on the same day.
Finally, he expressed his hope that Montenegrin and Hungarian small- and medium-sized enterprises will take advantage of the opportunity provided by Eximbank.
The two co-chairs of the Committee, Levente Magyar and Branimir Gvozdenovic validated the protocol of the joint committee with their signatures.