JAKARTA, Indonesia, Aug 24 -- Hungary has assured the Southeast Asian
grouping that as an active leading member of Central Europe region, Hungary
wants to deepen its connection with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(Asean) and East Asia.
Asean Secretary General Surin
Pitsuwan met Hungarian Prime Minister Viktoa Orban and Foreign Minister Janos
Martonyi, a press statement from Asean said.
The historic visit by Surin and
the discussions with the Hungarian leaders on August 22 explored possible areas
of collaboration and cooperation such as expanding trade, exchanging
information and experiences on sustainable development, investment, tourism and
cultural and education exchange.
In his speech to the annual
meeting of Hungarian ambassadors, Orban said, “Hungary is committed to promote
closer cooperation with Asean countries and with the entire countries in the
East Asia where economic growth, dynamism and investment opportunity are very
dynamic and apparent to all of us.”
He further explained that Hungary
has always been looking out for new investment opportunities, new markets and
new economic and commercial opportunities with the rest of the world.
“Asean and East Asia represent a
growing market, a new market for Hungarian product, services, education,
tourism and knowledge product,” said the Prime Minister.
Surin pointed out that Hungary’s
transformation from a socialist economy to a free market economy, would provide
extremely lessons and experiences for Asean member states, which are going
through the same transformation. He also highlighted the immense opportunities
that Asean offers.
“Ten Boutique economies, 600
million consumers with an expanded middle class are awaiting Hungarian and
Central European business people and investors,” the secretary-general told the
Hungarian ambassadors.
The Southeast Asian grouping is
one of the fastest growing regions in the world. Asean now boasts a combined
economy of more than US$2 trillion and that number is still growing.
Surin also pointed out to his
audience that the EU Summit in Vientiane in early of October 2012, will be a
great opportunity for the top leaders from Europe and Asia, to discuss and
explore potential areas of cooperation.
The European Union is the second
largest market for Asean and it is the highest source of Foreign Direct
Investment into Asean. Twelve leaders from Europe and Asia are already
committed to attend the ninth ASEM Summit in Vientiane, Laos.
Surin also met several Asean
ambassadors in Budapest such as Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Laos and the
Philippines. He encouraged them to set up the Asean Committee in Third Country
in Budapest to tap the opportunities and to project Asean’s interests into
Central Europe. (Asean/DFA)
Business & Investment Opportunities
YourVietnamExpert is a division of Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd, Incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Strategy, Investment and Management, focusing Healthcare and Life Science with expertise in ASEAN. We also propose Higher Education, as a bridge between educational structures and industries, by supporting international programmes. Many thanks for visiting www.yourvietnamexpert.com and/or contacting us at contact@yourvietnamexpert.com
No comments:
Post a Comment