Bilateral trade between South Korea and Hungary has grown tenfold over the past twenty years, showing the success of economic relations, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said on Wednesday, after talks with a delegation of South Korean business leaders in Budapest.
Noting South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s visit to Hungary, Szijjártó said economic relations had gained momentum since the last visit by a South Korean president to Hungary in 2001.
Trade volume reached 4.5 billion dollars last year and is expected to achieve new records in 2021, he said.
“But it is even more important that Hungary is high up on the list of European investment destinations of South Korean companies,” he said, noting that the country gave the fourth largest group of investors in Hungary.
South Korean companies are leading the world’s electric car market and the manufacturing of batteries for those cars. Their investments are turning Hungary into “a flagship of the electric car industry,” he said.
Ahead of a meeting between Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Moon later on Wednesday, leaders of South Korean giants such as Samsung, SK Innovation and Lotte Aluminium will attend meetings at the Hungarian foreign ministry, he said.
Featured photo illustration by Szilárd Koszticsák/MTI
