According to Turkish President Abdullah Gül who arrived to Budapest for official visit in company of a group of senior officials and business people, including Deputy Prime Minister Emrullah Isler and Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci, is on his official visit in Hungary. "We are desirous of developing the already perfect political relations into economic gains," Gül told journalists at the airport in Ankara before leaving.
After a dinner that was given in honor of President Abdullah Gül and First Lady Harünnisa Gül by Hungarian President Janos Áder and official meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, the Turkish president attended the 3rd Hungarian-Turkish Business Forum.Hungarian government website let us know:
- ‘Hungary aims to double bilateral trade with Turkey by 2015’ -said Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga.
- ‘Agreements signed during past Hungarian-Turkish business forums have resulted in 110 million euro worth of new business. ‘
- ‘Trading between the two countries increased by 27 percent in the first eleven months of last year.’
- ‘Turkey has become Hungary's fifth biggest trading partner outside the European Union.’ - pointed out State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations Péter Szijjártó.
- Hungarian PM, Viktor Orbán, emphasized that : more investment shall be realized with ‘at least one flagship investment project in both countries’
- Currently Turkish investments in Hungary totals only around 60-70 million dollars.
Gül especially emphasized Turkey’s geographical location in terms of energy sources - the Cihan reported.
“While Hungary may play the role of a bridge for Turkish relations with the EU, Turkey may be the way through which Hungary becomes more connected with countries in Eurasia,” Janos Hovari, Hungarian ambassador to Turkey, has said to the Today’s Zaman in a n interview in November 2013. In December 2013 Orbán opened the Hungarian House, a cultural center and a Hungarian trading center in Istanbul.
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On the Foreign Policy page of the Turkish Government website we can read:
"Turkey and Hungary share a long-standing common history. Turks and Hungarians, conscious of their shared past, consider each other as friends. After the change of the regime in Hungary in 1989, political relations between the two countries have quickly improved. Bilateral relations continue to flourish on the basis of mutual friendship, cooperation and common interests. There are no outstanding political problems between Turkey and Hungary. The accession of Hungary to the NATO and the EU has brought a multilateral dimension to the relations between Turkey and Hungary and deepened relations between the two countries. Hungarian aspiration to become a member of the NATO has been strongly supported by Turkey. Hungary, which became an EU member in May 2004, likewise supports Turkey’s EU membership. The policy that Hungary pursued towards economic liberalization since the beginning of 90s, the commitments that Hungary realized after its WTO membership and the Association Agreement that was signed between the EU and Hungary, have had a positive effect on the development of economic relations between Turkey and Hungary. However, bilateral economic and commercial relations flourished particularly after the Customs Union was established with Hungary in 2004. Although a slowdown was recorded in 2009 (the trade volume decreased to 1.4 billion USD in 2011, from 1.9 billion USD in 2008) due to the global economic crisis, bilateral trade recuperated as the impact of the crisis faded away and reached 2 billion USD in 2011. In 2012, bilateral trade decreased to 1,7 billion USD ( Turkey’s exports was 518 million USD, while her imports was 1,184 billion USD.) The main export items of Turkey are machines, iron, steel, electrical devices, textile materials and food, while its import items are electrical devices, machines, automotive spare parts and chemicals. Both countries attach top priority to energy related issues. Turkey and Hungary, who are significant parties of the Nabucco Project, have a sound cooperation also in this field. In 2012, about 94,409 Hungarian tourists visited Turkey."