MINSK, 28 April (BelTA) – Belarus and Hungary will set up a joint business council. The decision was made at a Belarusian-Hungarian business forum on 28 April, representatives of the Belarusian embassy in Hungary told BelTA.
The online forum was held upon the initiative of the Hungarian business community. Representatives of more than 80 Belarusian and Hungarian companies took part in it.
Participants of the forum stated the active nature of Belarus-Hungary trade links, the considerable potential for increasing the volume of mutual trade, for expanding the choice of imports and exports, and for raising mutual investments.
According to Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Hungary Aleksandr Ponomarev, plans on invigorating Belarus-Hungary trade in the near future include the organization of online seminars on woodworking and civil engineering and the organization of business forums. Provided the epidemic situation stabilizes, a session of the Belarusian-Hungarian trade and economic cooperation will take place in Budapest in H2 2021.
Participants of the forum decided to set up a joint business council based on the chambers of commerce of the two countries. The composition of the business council is supposed to be finished by the next session of the intergovernmental commission.
Belarus-Hungary trade demonstrated overall steadiness to external shocks during the pandemic. In 2020 Belarus-Hungary trade totaled $245.5 million, with Belarus' export at $121.8 million (93.2% as against 2019).
Belarus' top exports include railway cars, potash fertilizers and mineral fertilizers, plywood, parts and accessories for automobiles and tractors, furniture. Besides, in 2020 Hungary bought 412 Belarusian tractors worth over $7 million via Poland.
