On November 20, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev paid a state visit to Hungary and held talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Emphasizing that Hungary is a reliable strategic partner of Kazakhstan in the European Union, Tokayev said that the main goal of his visit was to “give new impetus to our cooperation”.
Tokayev noted the steady growth of trade between Kazakhstan and Hungary. “Last year, this figure grew by 9% compared to the previous year. Our goal is to bring it to $1 billion. We are ready to supply to Hungary 95 types of goods worth $700 million. Kazakhstan has the opportunity to export products from the energy, metallurgy, petrochemical, mechanical engineering, agriculture, and construction industries. Hungarian companies are interested in investment projects in Kazakhstan. Since 2005, $370 million in Hungarian investments have been attracted to our country,” said the Kazakh president.
As part of the visit, Kazakhstan’s national railway company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), L.A.C. Holding (Hungary), and Xi’an Free Trade Port Construction and Operation Co., Ltd (China) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on the establishment of a joint intermodal cargo terminal in Budapest.
The new terminal will have a capacity of 230,000 TEU per year and will increase the number of container trains between China and Europe, including cargo transit along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR).
Tokayev said that this Memorandum opens up new opportunities for the development of infrastructure, logistics and international trade, adding that “85% of land transit shipments between Asia and Europe pass through Kazakhstan, and in the near future, the volume of cargo transportation along this route will reach 10 million tons”.
Photo: akorda.kz
