Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Turkey-Hungary Business Council Meeting organized by the Turkish Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) in Budapest on Tuesday, Ergün said globalization removed economic boundaries and pushed fierce competition to the front of the stage. With the current economic crisis, which was a byproduct of globalization, the significance of international cooperation for sustainable global growth has become more apparent, he argued and added that the key for balanced and sustainable growth was the existence of strong cooperation among countries.
The trade and investment volume between Turkey and Hungary has steadily increased in the recent past, the minister asserted mentioning the trade figures as of the end of 2008. Turkey earned 463 million euros from its exports to Hungary while spending 871 million euros purchasing Hungarian exports, which brought the trade volume to 1.34 billion euros. The figure was 951 million euros in the first three quarters of 2009 despite stagnancy in the overall foreign trade of the countries, Ergün said and went on: “Why would it not be possible to increase the trade volume tenfold to over 10 billion euros per year?”
The Good Will Protocol that he signed with the Hungarian National Development and Economy Minister Istvan Varga on Monday to realize this target was “extremely pleasing” in that sense, the minister said.
Ergün later visited the Hungarian Parliament and met György Podoolak, head of parliament’s Economic and Information Technology Committee.
