The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spent HUF 165 million of EU funds on the development of the consular customer service in order to improve the efficiency of administration and to expand the range of services available for clients.
Minister of Defence Csaba Hende received the experts of the US Joint Special Operations University on a courtesy call. The Minister of Defence emphasized that the special operations forces (SOF) capability plays an important role in the Hungarian Defence Forces and is at once a highlighted field of American–Hungarian military-to-military relations.
As of the beginning of February, forex home loans -- or other types of foreign currency loans -- will be converted into forint loans and thus the problems caused by these financial products will also vanish from the Hungarian financial system, Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga said at a press conference on Saturday.
The delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – as part of an annual regular procedure – had conducted negotiations on 21-30 January 2014 and finally prepared a Concluding Statement.
In the initial eleven months of 2014, the volume of exports and imports soared by 6.7 percent and 8.2 percent, respectively, in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year. In November 2014, Hungary’s foreign trade showed a surplus of EUR 843 million, and thus in the initial eleven months of 2014 a surplus of EUR 6.2bn was accumulated. The Ministry for National Economy reckons with further growth in 2015.
Angela Merkel’s next week visit in Budapest clearly shows that Germany recognises the importance of the cooperation between the two countries, said Péter Szijjártó, minister of foreign trade and foreign affairs.
The EU extends the existing restrictive measures - imposed on Russian and Ukrainian persons and entities because of the Ukraine crisis - which were due to expire in March and the blacklist will also be expanded. The EU Foreign Ministers will decide on the newly drafted blacklist on 9 February, Péter Szijjártó told journalists after the extraordinary meeting of the EU member states’ heads of diplomacy on Thursday in Brussels.
Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga initiated the establishment of a joint tourism working group today, at the 4th Kazakh-Hungarian Business Forum held in Budapest. At the event, organized by the Hungarian-Kazakh section of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and its Kazakh partner, participants – including 40 enterprises – discussed partnership options to facilitate further cooperation.
According to seasonally adjusted Eurostat data, unemployment rate in Hungary fell to 7.3 percent in November 2014. Following Estonia and Spain, the largest year-on-year drop in the unemployment rate was recorded in Hungary within the EU28. With regard to year-on-year improvements, Hungary has been on the top of the ranking since February 2014. Unemployment rate averaged 11.5 percent in the 18 member states of the Eurozone, while it was 10.0 percent on average within the entire EU (28 members).
Hungary condemns by the strongest terms the terrorist attacks in the Northern part of the Sinai Peninsula on 29 January, causing the death of 27 and injuring dozens.