HKGCC and the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on 5 December at the Hungarian Consulate General.
Pál Kertész, Consul General of Hungary in Hong Kong, said this was an important step for the relationship between the two economies and noted that Hungary is Hong Kong’s most important trade partner in Central Europe.
Péter Dunai, Secretary General of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, introduced his country as a small nation with a population of around 10 million. It has a stable political environment and industries including IT, biomedicine and pharmaceutical, he added.
“Our internal structure is similar to other European nations, with multinationals and Hungarian companies,” he said. “Almost 90% of companies belong to the SME sector.”
The Hungarian economy is growing and has low unemployment and low inflation, which increases its attractiveness to investors.
“We are a target of FDI,” Dunai said. “The key sectors are auto, medical technology, logistics and electronics.”
Like HKGCC, the Hungarian chamber has a long history of supporting local businesses.
“HCCI is Hungary’s oldest business chamber, and was first established during the Austro-Hungarian Empire 167 years ago,” Dunai said.
There have been many changes in the intervening years, he added, especially since the 1990s. The chamber and the Hungarian government hope that the new agreement with HKGCC will help them to build relationships with partners in Hong Kong, the Chinese Mainland and across Asia.
Stephen Weatherseed, Chairman of the Europe Committee at HKGCC, agreed that the MOU signifies the increasing collaboration between the two chambers as well as between Hungary and Hong Kong.
“We know that Mainland China has a strong relationship with Hungary through 16+1, and that opens opportunities for Hong Kong companies as well,” he said, referring to the Mainland’s cooperative initiative with 16 Eastern European countries.
Weatherseed remarked that Hungary is a major trading partner with Mainland China and was the first European country to sign an MOU on the Belt and Road Initiative.
People attending the signing ceremony who had traveled from Hungary included representatives from the steel and food and beverage industries, and a delegation from Balatonszarszo, southeast of Budapest, which plans to build a new industrial zone and hopes to attract investment from Hong Kong.