Orsolya Szecsenyi, Head of Economic Office of Hungarian Embassy to Belgrade - Hungary as country partner

(Orsolya Szecsenyi)

Thanks to the measures of the Hungarian Government, the economy of that country is slowly but certainly coming out of the crisis, so that the interest of Hungarian companies in foreign markets, including Serbia, is growing again. Orsolya Szecsenyi, the Head of the Economic Office of the Hungarian Embassy to Belgrade, told eKapija that some of those investments in Serbia would, most probably, be realized by the end of year 2010. She also announced stronger cooperation between the two countries in the area of agriculture.

- Under strong influence of the global economic crisis in 2009, the exchange of goods between Serbia and Hungary dropped by 41% against year 2008. The value of Hungary's export to Serbia in 2009 amounted to EUR 617.17m, while the value of import of Serbian products to Hungary was EUR 207.8m. However, already from the beginning of this year, a mild recovery can be noticed in the exchange of goods, and the participation of Hungary as the country partner in the 77th International Agricultural Fair in Novi Sad will definitely contribute to returning the exchange of goods to the level from before the beginning of the economic crisis - says our interlocutor.

Although it is still too early to speak about concrete effects of the participation of Hungary in the Agricultural Fair, Orsolya Szecsenyi points out that the meetings of businessmen, government officials, representatives of chambers and business organizations, represent a good fuse for strengthening and improving the cooperation between the two countries.

eKapija: International Agricultural Fair in Novi Sad got the country partner for the first time in its history. Why Hungary?

- Both Serbia and Hungary are traditionally oriented towards agrarian sector. I would also like to point to exceptionally good cooperation between the agricultural ministries of the two countries, as well as between the agricultural manufacturers themselves. Concerning the fact that there is always some extra space for cooperation, we decided to be the country partner at this year's Fair in Novi Sad and, thus, make the cooperation even better. The opening ceremony was attended by the Hungarian Minister of Agriculture, and our country put big energy and money into presenting itself in a worthy way. The surface of the exhibition space used by Hungary at the Fair in Novi Sad amounted to 1,000 square meters. In addition to the national booth, 60 companies exhibited independently, while another 25 companies put their goods on display within the Agrarian Marketing Center. We organized 4 expert conferences, and there were over 100 Hungarian companies at the Fair. During the manifestation, a promotion of Hungarian food products was organized under the name of "Delicatessen from Hungary" in the stores of a Serbian market chain. We also organized meetings with businessmen from Serbia and led concrete talks with them. In addition, the agreement on cooperation between the chambers of commerce of Hungary and Vojvodina was signed. We will be able to discuss the real effects in two weeks, but impressions are surely positive.

eKapija: Which economic areas, other than agrarian sector, are notable for good cooperation, which sectors should be improved, and which of them have the best prospects?

- We are of the opinion that the cooperation is exceptionally good in petroleum and gas industry, as well as in the production of drugs, while we still wait for an opportunity to participate in the infrastructure projects because there is certainly space in that field for additional cooperation. Free trade agreements that Serbia has signed with Russia, Turkey, Belarus and Kazakhstan represent a great opportunity for bilateral cooperation because, thanks to these agreements, the possibility is opened for joint appearance of Serbian and Hungarian companies in these very important markets. Hungarian businessmen are also interested in privatization of public companies, which is the reason why they follow, with great attention, all the tenders announced by the Privatization Agency.

eKapija: How many Hungarian companies are operating in our country and in which sectors?

- Fifteen large Hungarian companies have their offices in Serbia, but there are over 500 Serbian-Hungarian joint ventures and small and mid-sized enterprises in the country. All companies are from different sectors, starting from banking industry (OTP Bank Serbia), oil industry (MOL-INTERMOL), construction industry (Betonut-Valjevoput, Arcadom, Kesz Kft.), industry of building materials (Contitech-Kolubara, Masterplast), to pharmaceutical companies (Richter Gedeon).

eKapija: Which companies from Hungary plan to invest in Serbia?

- Thanks to the measures of the Hungarian Government, our economy is coming out of the crisis slowly but certainly, so that the interest of Hungarian companies in foreign markets, including Serbia, is growing. We are receiving a growing number of calls from various Hungarian companies that are trying to find potential business partners in Serbia. There is a big number of small and mid-sized enterprises among them, but even some of the biggest Hungarian companies have expressed interest in investing in Serbia. Some of the investments will be probably realized already by the end of 2010. The negotiations that started few years ago and were discontinued because of the crisis have been resumed again. Serbia has a good system for investment promotion, and that is why it is attractive not only to the investors from Hungary. Serbian Government has a good foreign investment stimulus programme, and I definitely have to emphasize that the tax on profit in Serbia is the lowest in Europe, the amount of VAT is favorable, while manpower is qualified and cheaper than in the EU.

eKapija: Are there some Serbian companies that operate in Hungary?

- Unfortunately, the Hungarian Economic Office has no records of how many Serbian companies operate in Hungary, but growing number of Serbian companies have contacted us lately to ask about the way in which offices or companies can be opened in Hungary. There are some large companies among them, so that we hope that we will soon be able to read in the newspapers about successes of Serbian companies in Hungary. It is important to point to the existence of the Serbian-Hungarian Business Council whose task is to provide mutual support and aid in the contacts between Serbian and Hungarian companies.

eKapija: How much money is there in IPA funds for cross-border cooperation and is that money being used?

- Before I came to the Economic Office, I was working in the Ministry of Finance as an adviser for IPA projects and I was hired to make Serbs as successful as possible in these open contests. The Republic of Serbia as a potential candidate for membership in the European Union can use the money from IPA funds to back the transition process and institution building, that is, to develop regional and cross-border cooperation. Hungarian National Development Agency and the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Serbia announced an open competition in September 2009 for projects within the framework of the Serbian-Hungarian cross-border cooperation programme, and 16.6 million euros were set aside from IPA CBC Fund for that purpose. The cross-border programme is implemented on the territory of two regions in the south of Hungary and five regions in the farthest north of Serbia. Prior to December 31, 2009, 170 draft projects had been submitted, so that we can say that both sides recognized excellent opportunities offered by that programme. Seventy projects will get the money for realization, and singing of the contracts for these donations is underway. We can conclude that the interest was much bigger than the capacities of the open competition. The money from IPA funds is granted for construction of access roads, SME cooperation, tourism, culture...

eKapija: How can Hungary help Serbia become a member of the European Union?

- One of the most important strategic goals of the Republic of Hungary is to help European integration of the countries in the Western Balkans. Serbia achieved some significant results in that field in 2009, and Hungary will keep supporting European integration of Serbia strongly. Hungary hopes that, based on the application for membership in the European Union, Serbia will soon get to fill in the Questionnaire, which is the first most important step towards acquiring of the status of a candidate. Hungary will be able to provide the greatest support to Serbia's admission to the European Union in the period between January 1 and June 30, 2011, when our country will be presiding over the European Union.

M.K.