Hungary will support the cooperation of Hungarian and Bangladeshi businesses by relying on new means, Eximbank will open a credit facility worth USD 90 million for the purpose, and the Hungarian Government will offer 100 scholarship grants to young Bangladeshi students to study at Hungarian universities, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Tuesday at the Hungarian-Bangladeshi Business Forum in Budapest.
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed stressed: Bangladesh is aiming to create a knowledge-based economy. The country has progressed a great deal in recent years, and is able to offer Hungarian businesses good opportunities in a number of sectors, she pointed out.
In his speech delivered before an audience of Hungarian and Bangladeshi businesspeople, Mr Orbán said that there may be opportunities for Hungarian businesses in Bangladesh primarily in the fields of water management, agriculture, the pharmaceutical industry and educational technologies. He stated: Hungary has significant water reserves, there is major Hungarian experience and expertise in water management, and Hungarian water technologies are widely recognised and are greatly in demand throughout the world.
Mr Orbán highlighted that Hungary also has outstanding experience and expertise in agriculture. He added: the total production of Hungarian agriculture will reach a historical record this year, Hungary is the largest sunflower seed producer in the European Union, and with its average production rate of 3 tonnes per hectare, it has broken the world record. Some 9 million tonnes of corn have been produced in Hungary this year, and this figure is the second best produce rate in the history of the country, while a similar record has been reached in the case of rape as well.
Hungary is the world’s 6th most significant sowing seed producer, and its sowing seed exports account for 10 per cent of the world’s sowing seed sales, the Hungarian Prime Minister drew his audience’s attention to these facts. He described the agreement between the Hungarian and Bangladeshi Chambers of Commerce as an important pact. He added that, as a result of joint efforts, trade between the two countries increased by 6 per cent in the first eight months of the year, however, this is still a rather modest achievement. And while Hungarian exports increased by 12 per cent, there is scope for improvement.
The Hungarian Prime Minister said that the Hungarian Government started preparing Hungary for the development of a new world order and for new challenges back in 2010. During the course of the last few years, Hungary has undergone a process of renewal, as part of which we have reinforced the Hungarian economy, have regained our sovereignty, have developed an attractive investment environment, have created a workfare society instead of a benefit-based society, and have also renewed our foreign policy.
He added: thanks to the reforms, 2015 became a year of records in Hungary’s external economic relations, and the data of the first three quarters of this year shows that Hungarian exports will once again break all records at the end of this year with great probability. The programmes of easterly and southerly opening clearly testify to the adjustment of Hungary’s foreign policy to the development of the new world order, and the exports of Hungarian businesses in the easterly direction have increased by 7 per cent since 2010, Mr Orbán pointed out.
Sheikh Hasina Wazed said: Bangladesh is a genuine success story in the clothing industry, and is the second largest exporter in the world in this area. The pharmaceutical industry, the IT sector and ship manufacturing, too, are significant in the country. She added: they await Hungarian businesses in these fields as well as in other sectors. The Bangladeshi Prime Minister highlighted her country’s favourable geographical location, as she said, the country is near to the enormous Chinese market and to a number of other important Asian countries.
She said: Bangladesh has turned itself from a self-sustaining agricultural country into a mechanised and diversified country which awaits investments with one of the most flexible sets of regulations. Bangladesh is an export-oriented country where some one hundred industrial centres will be created within a short time. She reiterated: she is the first Bangladeshi Prime Minister to pay an official visit to Hungary, and at the same time, she invited Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to pay a visit to Bangladesh. While the two countries are far from each other, this is no obstacle in light of the fact that they are friendly countries, she said in stating her view.
She added: she had fruitful bilateral talks with the Hungarian Prime Minister, and these negotiations will further intensify cooperation as there are good opportunities in trade and in the field of investments.
The Budapest business forum of the Hungarian National Trading House was attended by the representatives more than 100 Hungarian and Bangladeshi businesses.
At the forum Zoltán Kiss, Vice-President of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Abdul Matlub Ahmad, President of the Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry signed a cooperation agreement in the presence of the two countries’ Prime Ministers.