Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén received Kaynak in Parliament to discuss bilateral ties, the prime minister’s press chief said. Varga discusses Turkey-Hungary economic ties with Kaynak Both countries’ governments support the development of economic ties and agreements to avoid dual taxation and to encourage and protect investment in each other’s countries also serve this aim, Varga said.

Turkey is one of Hungary’s most important trade partners in the Balkans, he added. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2013 set a medium-term target to have bilateral trade reach an annual 5 billion forints (EUR 16.1m), Varga said. Currently annual trade totals around 3 billion forints so there is room for improvement, he added.

Cooperation opportunities are not fully utilised in several areas, including agriculture, especially livestock transports, he said. Varga added that electricity projects, biomass production and the transfer of Hungarian know-how in nuclear energy are additional areas for cooperation, as well as water and sewage treatment and flood protection.

The stability of Hungary’s economy attracts foreign capital and nearly six hundred Turkish companies have set up business in Hungary, employing more than a thousand people, he said. Several Hungarian companies have set foot in Turkey, mostly in IT, and also in the dairy industry, printing and sewage treatment.

Varga said that tourism cooperation was also discussed at the meeting and noted that expanding air transport links boost the sector in both countries. Semjén holds talks with Turkish counterpart The two officials praised Hungarian-Turkish ties, which they said bind the two countries together both economically and culturally. Kaynak thanked the Hungarian government for their support of Turkey’s democratically elected government.

The two officials both applauded the planned reconstruction of the 16th-century tomb of Gül Baba in Budapest.

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.

MTI photo: Balogh Zoltán