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BELGRADE, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The trade balance between Serbia and Hungary doubled in the past six years, Serbian economy minister Goran Knezevic said at a press conference with Hungarian foreign affairs and trade minister Peter Szijjarto here on Thursday.
The two revealed plans to expand the trade balance even further by stimulating Serbian exports to Hungary.
"Trade balance between Serbia and Hungary is currently 1.1 billion euros (1.17 billion U.S. dollars) in the first eight months of 2016 and it has doubled in the past six years," Knezevic stressed.
He said the advancement in trade would be one of the topics at the joint government session of Serbia and Hungary to be held in the southern Serbian city of Nis on Nov. 20 and 21. This occasion would also be a chance to invite Hungarian companies to that underdeveloped region of Serbia.
"Relations between the two countries are at a historically high level, which corresponds with the fact that we are neighboring countries with comparable economies and joint interests in many areas," Knezevic said, stressing the need for better roads, railways and waterways between the two countries.
He stressed the major importance of the reconstruction of the Belgrade-Budapest line into a high-speed railway that was started in cooperation with China. He reminded that the two countries signed the commercial contract for the first section of the railway at the summit attended by heads of governments of 16 Central and Eastern European countries and China in Riga, Latvia in early November.
Szijjarto said Hungarian companies that dealt with finance, energy, pharmacy, and water pipelines were interested in Serbia and its free trade zones, adding that trade in the first eight months of the year increased by five percent compared to last year thanks to Hungarian companies opening offices in Serbia.
He praised the economic progress and reforms that Serbia had been implementing in past years as a part of its European integration, and concluded that "Serbia deserves to become a full EU member because of its results achieved so far." Enditem
