Dubai Chamber inks two MoUs with Hungarian Chamber and Hungarian National Trading House

Three Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) including two between Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Hungary Chamber of Commerce and Industry as well as the Hungarian National Trading House were signed, while the third joint partnership agreement was signed between Ivanka Factory Plc, Hungary, and Sensi Trading LLC.

Under the agreement, both Dubai and Hungary Chambers will work to promote commercial exchanges and trade and economic cooperation between their business communities while also exchanging information and experiences as well organising networking events including conferences, specialised exhibitions and reciprocal trade missions.

The MoU between Dubai Chamber and the Hungarian National Trading House emphasised on strengthening trade and economic cooperation and the exchange of information between enterprises from both sides while promoting the development of small and medium-sized companies’ activities and exchange of information on trade fairs and economic events. The third cooperation agreement between Ivanka Factory Plc, Hungary, and Sensi Trading LLC too stressed on working closely to enhance trade between the two companies.

The signing ceremony was held on the side-lines of the Country Focus Briefing – Hungary organised by Dubai Chamber in association with Hungarian Embassy in the UAE at the Chamber premises on Tuesday in the presence of H.E. Sultan Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy and H.E. Péter Szijjártó, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and his accompanying business delegation. The briefing was followed with 90 one-to-one business meetings between the two sides.

In his special address on the occasion, H.E. Sultan Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy, emphasised on the importance of working jointly to strengthen partnerships between the business communities from the UAE and Hungary which will lead to opening up new horizons for economic cooperation and also to honour the MoUs and partnership agreements signed between the two sides both at the government and private sector levels to support and encourage two-way trade for investors from both countries.

H.E. Sultan Al Mansouri further emphasised on the UAE’s keenness to enhance mutual cooperation with Hungary in the area of economic and trade relations and to bring them to the expected levels reflecting the capabilities of the two sides. He pointed out the various investment opportunities offered by common areas of interest in trade, industry, tourism and agriculture, as well as the UAE’s interest in promoting cooperation with Hungarian small and medium enterprises.

The UAE Minister of Economy also stressed upon the need to pursue timely exchange of visits and participation in economic and trade exhibitions, events and conferences organised by both the sides to create opportunities for businesses and investors in the prominent sectors in line with the economic agenda of the governments of the two countries.

Also attending the Country Focus Briefing were H.E. Majid Saif Al Ghurair, Chairman, and H.E. Hamad Buamim, President and CEO, Dubai Chamber, as well as Peter Dunai, Secretary General, Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Gabriel Partos, Global Forecast Editor, the Economist Intelligence Unit, Robert Esik, President, Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA) and Zoltan Urban, CEO, Hungarian Export-Import Bank.

In his welcome speech, H.E. Al Ghurair said: “We believe Hungary, with its open economy and a strong emphasis to encourage investment and trade is a market we should be looking at and Dubai Chamber will be there to support the private sector from both sides, especially Hungarian investors, to build these linkages and to support them with their expansion strategy

“Hungary with its gateway location offering access to Central and Eastern Europe's most promising markets while also linking to Russia and the Baltic Sea and Dubai with its ideal location as an east meets west destination can join hands to take their bilateral ties to the next level,” he said.

H.E. Al Ghurair informed that Hungary ranked 59^th on the list of Dubai's trade partners as the non-oil trade between the two sides amounted to about AED 680 million in 2014, while it was about AED 270 million dirhams during the first half of 2015, which he said does not meet the potential of the two sides, as this meeting is an opportunity to increase the trade volume in the coming years.

He called upon Hungarian companies to make Dubai their base to expand into the region's markets with access to over 2 billion consumers in Africa, Asia and GCC countries – an advantage that Hungarian companies should look at as the emirate’s stable economy and sound regulations, make it the ideal gateway for doing business not only in the UAE but beyond, said H.E. Al Ghurair.

On his part, H.E. Péter Szijjártó, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, emphasised on his country's desire to enhance mutual cooperation between the two trading partners while exploring new investment partnerships for Hungarian businesses in various potential economic sectors of Dubai.

“The UAE is the highest user of electricity per capita in the world while importing 85% of its food requirement therefore there is tremendous scope for our two countries to work in water desalination, food and solar energy sectors,” said H.E. Péter Szijjártó adding, “Hungary is one of the leading countries in EU in the area of nuclear power and is ready to cooperate in providing technology, IT and energy efficient solutions, medical equipment, training in nuclear power, talent and know-how to the UAE while upgrading its exports to the country.”

He also said that Hungary is ready and open to enhance cooperation in various sectors of mutual benefit with UAE companies, particularly Dubai businesses, as his delegation included representatives of Hungarian Export-Import Bank (EXIM) which has recently opened a credit line of USD 406 million to facilitate trade cooperation between Hungary and the UAE, as the visit establishes a new era of relations and economic partnerships between the two sides.

In a presentation on The Outlook for Hungary: The Economy, Business Environment & Market Opportunities, Gabriel Partos Global Forecast Editor, The Economist Intelligence Unit, shed light on the challenges and opportunities witnessed by the Hungarian market while Péter Dunai, Secretary General, Hungarian Chamber of Commerce & Industry, provided an overview of the services offered by the Chamber to member companies and new investors in Hungary.

Another presentation on Hungary – A Proven Location for Your Investment, by Robert Esik, President, Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency, highlighted Hungary’s easy accessibility to East European markets as Zoltán Urbán, CEO, Hungarian Export-Import Bank talked about Export Financing Solutions for Foreign Investors. Ms. Lilla Gulyas, Project Director, Hungarian National Trading House, spoke about Hungarian innovation tradition.

This Country Focus Briefing follows last year’s official UAE delegation visit under the UAE Minister of Economy where several mutual cooperation agreements with various Hungarian entities and organisations were agreed upon to jointly reinforce sector-specific synergies and explore mutual investment opportunities while working towards strengthening economic ties between the business communities of Dubai and Hungary.