Korea and Hungary agree to cooperate on trade and industry

The top industry officials of Korea and Hungary agreed Thursday to strengthen cooperation on trade and various new industry fields, such as green growth and the transition to digital, Seoul's industry ministry said.

Korean Industry Minister Moon Sung-wook and Hungary's Finance Minister Varga Mihaly reached the consensus during a video conference held earlier in the day, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

During the meeting, the two sides agreed to work closely on their push for green growth and the transition to digital, and to conduct joint research and development on various new industry sectors in a move to better respond to emerging challenges, such as supply chains disruptions.

The Hungarian minister vowed efforts to improve its investment conditions for Korean firms, and Moon suggested extra joint efforts to prevent the ongoing crisis surrounding Ukraine from affecting their business activities, the ministry said.

"The two sides agreed to boost ties in a wide range of sectors including trade, finance, health care, infrastructure and culture as strategic partners," the ministry said in a release.

In November last year, the two nations decided to elevate their bilateral relations to a strategic partnership during a summit meeting between President Moon Jae-in and his Hungarian counterpart, Janos Ader, in Budapest.

Two-way trade has been on a rise to hit a record high of $4.8 billion last year, according to Korean government data.'

Yonhap