India eyes boost in bilateral trade with Hungary to $1 bn

Eyeing to boost its trade and presence in the European Union,its largest trade partner,India is exploring ways to pull bilateral trade with Hungary to $1 billion in the next two years.

Eyeing to boost its trade and presence in the European Union (EU),its largest trade partner,India is exploring ways to pull bilateral trade with Hungary to $1 billion in the next two years.

The central European nation,which is set to gain the next EU presidency,is being seen as a strategic trade partner. Hungarys important role in the EU would also be used to make further inroads in vast untapped areas in the union.

Hungarys membership to EU (in 2004) has added a significant dimension to our overall relationship. We also look forward to Hungarys Presidency of the EU in 2011 and would be happy to learn of any initiatives that Hungary proposes to take to take particularly in the economic area, said Anand Sharma,trade minister,at the India-Hungary Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation here on Tuesday. We look forward to closer cooperation on EU related issues such as the broadbased trade and investment agreement being negotiated with India, said Sharma pointing at the positive role Hungary can play in this respect.

In order to explore newer areas of interest and build bilateral partnerships,a 23 member high-level business delegation led by industry body Ficci is accompanying the commerce minister. The members of the delegation include Phiroz Adi Vandrevala of TCS,Pramod Bhasin of Genpact,Anil K Mani of Apollo Hospitals Group,Harin Mehta of Sun Pharma. While some of these members are already present in Hungary,the rest are looking at opportunities for collaboration.

Hungary has been an important trading partner of India with two-way trade growing fivefold between 2005 and 2008 to reach the $700 million mark. However,it dropped 15 per cent in 2009 due to the global demand slowdown. The relative advantages in both the countries are now being explored afresh to build partnerships that work to the advantage of businesses in both the countries.

During the interaction,business leaders from the two sides explored areas of cooperation to increase trade and investment in sectors like auto component,port equipment,health,education,electrical machinery besides chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Hungary is promoting greater use of generic drugs. India has a large competitive advantage in pharma sector, said Sharma. Sharma also met Hungarian Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai.

Indias ONGC has already tied up with and Hungarian oil company MOL for oil exploration activities in the country. MOL has taken 35 per cent stake in the joint venture with ONGC for exploration activities in Himachal Pradesh,where drilling is expected to start in March,said an MOL official. Meanwhile,Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) to promote bilateral trade and investment with ITD of Hungary and another with Hungarian Chambers of Commerce and Industry to advance international commercial arbitration. Indian industry has raised issues like visa to business people and refund of social security tax paid by IT professionals.