Minister of Industry and Technology Kacir said, “Our (Turkiye-Hungary) bilateral trade volume has approached $4 billion. There is a target of $6 billion set by our leaders and we are moving step by step towards this target.”
Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacir stated that the trade volume between Turkiye and Hungary is approaching $4 billion and said, “There is a target of $6 billion set by our leaders and we are moving step by step towards this target. We foresee that the defense industry will provide a significant acceleration in this target.”
After his two-day visit to Hungary, Minister Kacir made evaluations about his contacts in the capital Budapest.
Reminding that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Budapest in August, Kacir reminded that he accompanied this visit.
Kacir stated that on December 18, on the 100th anniversary of Turkiye-Hungary relations, President Erdogan will be in Budapest again to lead the “High Level Strategic Council Meeting”. He explained that they came to Budapest again to follow the work that accelerated with the visit in August and to complete the preparations for the next visit, and within the scope of the meetings, they discussed cooperation projects that could be carried out, especially in the field of defense industry.
Kacir pointed out that they aim to transform and maintain the long-standing friendship between Turkiye and Hungary into cooperation in strategic areas and said:
“The recent supply and joint production project carried out by the Turkish company Nurol Makina with its stakeholders in Hungary was a very important step in the defense industry. But we think that our cooperation can go much further than this. During this visit, we held a meeting of nearly 5 hours at the Hungarian Ministry of Defense with 10 different defense industry companies and institutions that I invited. All our companies and institutions explained their work and how they could contribute to the Hungarian defense industry. Hungary is currently carrying out an important program in the defense industry, especially in the modernization of its army. In this program, we aim for Turkish defense industry institutions to play a more effective role.”
“We discussed the potential collaborations of the automotive and defense industries”
Providing information about the details of their Budapest contacts, Kacir stated that they held an important meeting at the ZaloZONE Automotive Test Center, one of the most important automotive testing infrastructures in Europe established by Hungary.
Stating that they discussed the potential collaborations that the Turkish automotive and defense industry could carry out in this center with the work carried out here, Kacir made the following evaluations:
“We talked with the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Peter Szijjarto, about Turkiye-Hungary trade relations, the investments we can make together and the strategic areas where we can cooperate. Our bilateral trade volume has approached $4 billion. There is a target of $6 billion set by our leaders and we are moving step by step towards this target. We predict that the defense industry will provide significant momentum towards this goal. The Turkish defense industry will reach the export level of $6 billion by 2023 and we will be rapidly running towards $10 billion of exports. In this context, our cooperation with Hungary, one of our important friends, especially in the field of defense, will enable us to achieve the annual trade volume of $6 billion set by our leaders.”
“Turkish-Hungarian commercial relations will accelerate further”
Kacir also mentioned that they visited Gulbaba Tomb and Abdurrahman Abdi Pasha Tomb, which were restored with the cooperation of the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) and the Hungarian government, and said that the historical aspect of the relations between the two countries is very strong.
Kacir pointed out that 100 different events will be held within the scope of the “Turkish-Hungarian Culture Year” throughout 2024, and that significant contributions will be made to the Turkish-Hungarian cooperation in the following year, as the year of science and innovation.
Underlining that they attach great importance to joint research, development and innovation projects in the future within the scope of Turkish-Hungarian cooperation, Kacir said:
“We also had a meeting with the President of the European Institute of Technology and Innovation, headquartered in Budapest. The work of this institute has an important place in the field of entrepreneurship and innovation, especially within the Horizon Europe Programme. Although Turkiye currently benefits from the Horizon Europe Program effectively, we aim to play a much more active role in the coming period, especially in the studies carried out by the European Technology and Innovation Institute and in the studies in the field of technological entrepreneurship. On the occasion of the meeting, we planned the work towards this goal.”
Kacir stated that Hungary has taken over the European Union (EU) term presidency for next year and that he thinks this will also be an opportunity for Turkiye-EU relations. He said that they discussed with Szijjarto, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Hungary, who has made significant contributions to the relations between the two countries, about the work that can be done with Hungary during the term presidency and that they had the opportunity to review the agreements in the fields of industry, technology and trade that will be signed on December 18.
Pointing out that very important cooperation agreements will be signed at the meetings to be held with the participation of President Erdogan, Kacir added that Turkish-Hungarian commercial relations will accelerate further with these agreements.
Source: AA / Prepared by Irem Yildiz