India calls for economic partnership with Hungary

Gurgaon, Jan 16 (UNI) India today called for concrete action in translating political friendship with Hungary into economic partnership.

Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath today urged businesses of both countries to establish sectoral platforms for trade and investment that can identify the existing roadblocks and devise solutions for dismantling them.

Hungary, he said, has high skills in engineering, machinery, food processing, electricity and metallurgy, while India's requirement of equipment and machinery for its infrastructure development can be of interest to Hungarian businesses.

Speaking on "Hungary-Regional Integration: The EU Experience for Inclusive Growth", he said regional integration is increasingly being recognised as an important element of economic growth strategy as is evident in the European Union.

He said benefits of this integration are visible in the faster rates of growth in both GDP and trade in the EU which has revitalised into a dynamic and vibrant economic region.

Robust economic fundamentals are helping the region's interaction with the rest of the world. Hungary joined the EU in 2004 and since then has experienced the economic benefits of regional integration, he added.

Earlier during his one-to-one meeting with the Hungary Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany, Mr Nath said India is a vibrant economy with huge opportunities for doing business.

He outlined potential area for collaboration between the two countries in auto components, information technology and e-governance, health care, pharmaceuticals, ayurveda, energy, environment protection and water management, investments, finance and banking.

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