Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó called for enhanced EU-Indo-Pacific cooperation and speedy dismantling of trade barriers.
Péter Szijjártó, Hungarian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade called for talks with countries in South-East Asia on prospective partnership and cooperation agreements to accelerate. Striking free trade agreements with New Zealand, Indonesia, and Australia would be key in that regard, the Minister said, at the Prague High-Level Dialogue on the Indo-Pacific, organized on 13-14 June by the upcoming Czech Presidency of the European Council.
Failure to improve economic cooperation between Europe and the Indo-Pacific region would deprive both sides of significant growth potential. Hungary’s economy is the tenth most open globally. “Our exports last year grew by 25 percent and our trade with the Indo-Pacific region exceeded a record 13.5 billion dollars,” the Minister said, adding that the South-East Asian region has been the largest investor in Hungary for the past three consecutive years.
It was now the EU’s and the European Commission’s turn to dismantle trade barriers still standing in the way of developing relations with some of the world’s fastest growing regions. For more information, visit: https://www.budapesttimes.hu/world/szijjarto-global-east-west-cooperation-needed/
