The Viet Nam - Hungary Business Forum opens in Ha Noi yesterday. — Photo vov

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Hungary has prioritised Viet Nam as a strategic economic partner, said Mikola Istvan, Hungary's State Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Economics.

He made the announcement at the Viet Nam - Hungary Business Forum, held by the Ministry of Inudstry and Trade (MoIT) in Ha Noi yesterday.

The two countries have made stable, significant improvements in their economic relations, Istvan said. Their total export-import turnover has grown 10 per cent, but it is still low relative to the partnership's potential. Hungary would assist Hungarians working with Vietnamese partners and invest in information technology, medical equipment, food processing and environmental protection, he added.

Do Kim Lang, deputy director general of the Viet Nam Trade Promotion Agency, said that with its highly developed industry, Hungary could help Vietnamese enterprises improve their machinery and equipment in order to increase the value of their exported goods.

He added that Viet Nam would find more opportunities to co-operate with other countries when it had finished signing its free trade agreements.

Local enterprises also saw the forum between two countries as a chance to expand their business to Hungary.

Pham Thanh Tuyen, sales manager of Avina Logistics, said his company focused on transport services and had been negatively affected by the global economic crisis.

He said activities like this forum would help his company find new international partners and more opportunities in overseas markets.

Tran Manh Dung, a sales manager for Vietnam Technical Scientific Application Joint Stock Company, said that the forum would be helpful for Vietnamese businesses looking to expand to Hungary. But local firms would face some challenges developing their brands for overseas markets, so he said he hoped the two governments could work together to help businesses prepare.

According to the MoIT, total trade turnover between Viet Nam and Hungary last year reached US$175 million, with $55 million exported from Viet Nam and $120 million exported from Hungary.

Viet Nam's major exported products to Hungary were food and telecommunication, while Hungary invested in 13 projects in Viet Nam involving agriculture, food production, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.

Receiving Istvan at the Government Office yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai said he appreciated the Hungarian delegation's visit, which he believed would foster multi-sector and comprehensive co-operation between the two countries. — VNS