President meets with Hungarian businesspeople

President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev met with the heads of leading companies and banks of Hungary in Budapest.

The event was attended by Hungarian Minister of Economic Development Márton Nagy, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry László Parragh, CEO of OTP Bank Sándor Csányi, as well as heads of about 20 major companies and corporations such as Gedeon Richter, Bonafarm, Wizz Air, Raba Holding, Meditop, Master Good, Kite and others.

It should be noted that open meetings with business circles have become an indispensable attribute of the foreign visits of the Leader of Uzbekistan. They contribute to establishing direct contacts and promoting the success of Uzbekistan on the trade-economic track, attracting foreign investors to the implementation of mutually beneficial projects.

Hungary is a country with one of the most dynamically developing economies in Europe, with huge potential in agriculture, industry, trade, tourism, finance and information technology.

Trade-economic cooperation between the two countries has been developing dynamically in recent years. The trade turnover has increased 3 times over the past 5 years. The number of joint ventures and the volume of investments is growing.

Promising areas of mutually beneficial cooperation in pharmaceuticals, agriculture, food industry, electronics and electrical engineering, chemical, textile, leather and automotive industries were discussed at the meeting.

It was noted that Uzbekistan is implementing large-scale reforms aimed at cardinal improvement of all spheres and sectors of the economy, as well as improving the welfare of the population.

The Leader of Uzbekistan listed the main achievements of Uzbekistan's economic policy in recent years, including the liberalization of the foreign exchange market and the repatriation of profits, the program of privatization of state assets and banks, industrial and infrastructure facilities, tax reform and others.

“The Development Strategy of the New Uzbekistan provides for the continuation of work on creating the most favorable conditions for entrepreneurs, expanding the presence of foreign business in our country. The main thing is that foreign business believed in our transformations”, Shavkat Mirziyoyev said.

The creation of a joint fund for financing priority projects, which will be launched in the near future, was announced at the meeting.

It was proposed to allocate a separate industrial zone exclusively for Hungarian companies, providing it with all the necessary production infrastructure.

According to the President of Uzbekistan, future joint projects, mastering scientific developments, design innovations and technologies of Hungarian partners as part of their implementation will have a great synergetic effect.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev addressed each member of the Hungarian business delegation. A detailed exchange of views took place on plans for the implementation of specific joint projects. The readiness to provide Hungarian business with full support in the implementation of its investment plans was expressed.

“I invite every entrepreneur to visit our country and personally make sure that today Uzbekistan is the best place for investment!”, the President noted.

In turn, representatives of the Hungarian business community highly appreciated the results of the systemic economic reforms implemented in Uzbekistan and expressed their desire to enter the market of Uzbekistan and implement joint promising projects.

Another clear confirmation of the high mutual interest of the parties in cooperation was the Uzbekistan – Hungary Business Forum held the day before, within the framework of which investment, trade and financial agreements worth more than $1 billion were concluded.

Following the meeting, an agreement was reached on the adoption of a comprehensive roadmap for the practical implementation of all initiated projects, specifying deadlines and responsible executors.

The heads of ministries and agencies of Uzbekistan have been instructed to provide all possible assistance to Hungarian partners in carrying out successful business activities in Uzbekistan.