Abu Dhabi: The UAE and Hungary have signed an agreement for economic cooperation to increase trade and investment flows between the two countries in priority areas of shared interest.
Péter Szijjártó, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, and Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, the Minister of State for Foreign Trade, signed the agreement in Budapest, the capital of Hungary. Saud Hamad Al-Shamsi, the UAE’s ambassador to Hungary, was present for the signing.
The goal of the UAE-Hungary economic cooperation agreement is to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries and promote growth in several important areas, such as real estate, infrastructure, industry, commerce, investment, and tourism. The accord moreover seeks to enhance non-oil commerce, which has had a noteworthy surge in the last few years. Non-oil commerce tripled from $409 million in 2019 to over $1.127 billion in 2023, a 23.1 percent increase.
Al Zeyoudi said the agreement sets the stage for increased trade and investment by leveraging the two nations’ combined economic potential. Al Zeyoudi stated that, “The UAE and Hungary’s economic ties continue to strengthen, building on our shared objective of achieving sustainable economic growth by stimulating trade and investment flows between our two friendly nations. We are creating opportunities for our private sectors to increase collaboration and build partnerships in various areas that will be pivotal to economic diversification, while also facilitating and incentivizing future-focused private enterprises and emerging industries to grow within and beyond our borders.”
Following the agreement, a joint committee will be set up to supervise and encourage economic interaction between the two nations, create initiatives and programs that will benefit both parties in accordance with the agreement, and set up a system to ensure that these programs and initiatives are carried out successfully.
The agreement expands upon the cooperation plan that the two nations agreed upon in 2022, which gave priority to nine important areas: trade, investment, small and medium-sized business development, talent attraction, water resource management, energy and renewable energy, tourism and culture, logistics and supply, research and technology, space exploration, and education.