The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a meeting in Budapest with the heads of leading companies and banks in Hungary.

The event was attended by Minister of Economic Development of Hungary Marton Nagy, chairman of Chamber of Commerce and Industry Laszlo Parrag, head of OTP Bank Sándor Csányi, as well as heads of about 20 major companies and corporations, such as "Gedeon Richter", "Bonafarm", "Wizz Air", "Raba Holding", "Meditop", "Master Good", "Kite" and others.

It should be noted that open meetings with business circles have become an indispensable attribute of foreign visits of the leader of Uzbekistan. They facilitate the establishment of direct contacts and promote the success of our country on trade and economic track, and attract foreign investors to the implementation of mutually beneficial projects.

Hungary is one of the most dynamic economies in Europe, with great potential in agriculture, industry, trade, tourism, finance and information technology.

Trade and economic cooperation between our countries has been dynamically developing in recent years. The volume of trade turnover over the past 5 years has grown threefold. The number of joint ventures and investment volumes are growing.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed promising areas of mutually beneficial cooperation in such industries as pharmaceuticals, agriculture, food processing, electronics and electrical engineering, chemicals, textiles, leather, automotive industry.

It was noted that Uzbekistan has been implementing wide-ranging reforms designed to cardinally improve all spheres and branches of economy as well as the well-being of the population.

The leader of our country enumerated the main achievements of Uzbekistan's economic policy in recent years, including liberalization of currency market and repatriation of profits, privatization program of state assets and banks, industrial and infrastructure objects, tax reforms and much more.

- The Development Strategy of New Uzbekistan envisages continuing work on creating the most favorable conditions for entrepreneurs, expanding the presence of foreign business in our country. The main thing is that foreign business believes in our reforms," Shavkat Mirziyoyev said.

At the meeting, it was announced the creation of a joint Fund to finance priority projects, which will be launched in the near future.

It is proposed to allocate a separate industrial zone exclusively for Hungarian companies, providing it with all the necessary production infrastructure.

According to the head of our state, future joint projects, the development of scientific developments, design innovations and technologies of Hungarian partners as part of their implementation will have a great synergistic effect.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev addressed each member of the Hungarian business delegation. A detailed exchange of views took place on plans for the implementation of specific joint projects. Firm readiness was expressed to provide full support to Hungarian business in the implementation of its investment plans.

- I invite every entrepreneur to visit our country and personally see that today, the best place for investment is Uzbekistan! the President noted.

In turn, representatives of the Hungarian business community praised the results of systemic economic reforms carried out in Uzbekistan and expressed their desire to enter the market of our country and implement joint promising projects.

Another clear confirmation of the high mutual interest of the parties in cooperation was the Uzbek-Hungarian business forum held the day before, within the framework of which investment, trade and financial agreements worth more than $1 billion were concluded.

At the end of the meeting, an agreement was reached on the adoption of a comprehensive "Roadmap" for the practical implementation of all initiated projects, indicating specific deadlines and responsible executors.

The heads of ministries and departments of Uzbekistan were instructed to provide all possible assistance to Hungarian partners in the implementation of successful business activities in our country.