Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh addresses Viet Nam-Hungary Business Forum in Budapest, Hungary, January 19, 2024 

The event was co-organized by the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Vietnamese Embassy in Hungary and the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The forum is expected to open a new period for further cooperation and development between the two sides' business communities.

Addressing the event, Pham reiterated that Viet Nam is renewing its economic driving forces such as exports, consumption and investment while promoting new driving forces including digital economy, green economy, circular economy and sharing economy.

The nation always protects the legitimate and legal rights and interests of business and creates favorable conditions for the development of enterprises, in the spirit of "harmonious interests, shared risks", Pham underlined.

He called on Hungarian investors and businesses to seek for cooperation and investment opportunities in Viet Nam, for the sake of the development of each side and for peace, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

Viktor Orbán, for his part, said that Hungary advocates the EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the EU-Viet Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), pledging to urge other EU member states to soon ratify the EVIPA in a bid to facilitate Viet Nam's exports to the EU.

He expected to boost the bilateral trade in a more balancing manner, suggesting Vietnamese businesses to pour more investment in Hungary, adding that Viet Nam has achieved high growth and Hungary will enhance investment in Viet Nam.

Hungary is the unique country in Central and Eastern Europe that Viet Nam has established comprehensive partnership with. The two economies are complementary to each other and boast substantial cooperation potential.

Hungary now ranks 52nd out of 144 foreign investors in Viet Nam, with 21 investment projects valued at more than US$72 million. Viet Nam has invested in two projects in Hungary with a total investment capital of US$5.8 million. 

The two-way trade between the two countries hit over US$1.2 billion in 2022, 1.63 times more than in 2019.