The Arab Spring opened new horizons: as a result of the economic and political changes and newly forming democracy, there are new opportunities coming up for investors and businessmen. The economy of Maghreb states have developed more dynamically than the average – said Mr. Roland Nátrán, CEO of EXIM Bank and MEHIB Zrt. Mr. Károly Bukvai, presidential advisor of the Hungarian Investment and Trade Agency, and besides the importance of opening to the East he talked about the sectors emphasized by the Agency: energetics (oil, natural gas research, alternative energy resources), agriculture, food-processing, water and waste-management, environment protection, biotechnology, modernization of ports and railway lines, the pharmaceutical industry, informatics, telecommunication.
Mr. Sándor Balogh, president of the Tunisian-Hungarian Business Council welcomed the representatives of the Tunisian, Moroccan and Algerian Embassies, and the co-president of the Tunisian Business Council. He said that the financial crisis could be the chance for Africa and the other continents for the developed countries to discover that there is life there. He considers Hungarian expertise to be our greatest strength, which could help us conquer the markets.
At the opening of the conference Mr. Zoltán Kiss, Vice-president of the Budapest Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Alaya Bettaieb, Undersecretary of the Ministry of International Investment and Cooperation and Tunisian president of JEC, Mr. Lajos Bognár, Deputy Undersecretary of the Ministry of Rural Development, H.E. László Papp, Ambassador, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Hungarian representative of the Mediterranean Union, Mr. Roland Nátrán, CEO of EXIM Bank and MEHIB Zrt., Mr. Balázs Gerstl, the Director General of Africa and Middle-East Department, Mr. Károly Bukvai, presidential advisor of the Hungarian Trade Agency, and Mr. Sándor Balogh, president of the Tunisian-Hungarian Business Council welcomed the participants. Moderator of the event was Ms. Helga Szabó, president of the MAGHREB Professional Department of the Budapest Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
At the press conference of the 7th Africa Summit Mr. Lajos Bognár, Undersecretary for Food Chain Control Supervision and Agricultural Administration, and Hungarian co-president of the Hungarian-Tunisian Intergovernmental Economic Joint Committee said the aim of the meeting was to realize the objectives of the government in practice, to provide information for Hungarian companies, to talk about business opportunities and to help companies build connections. He considers agriculture (fishing, food industry), transportation development and telecommunication significant areas in Tunisian-Hungarian cooperation. Hungary has had good commercial relations with Tunisia so far too; their aim is to help develop them.
Mr. Alaya Bettaieb, Undersecretary of the Tunisian Ministry of International Investment and Cooperation, who is also co-president of the Hungarian-Tunisian Intergovernmental Economic Joint Committee, was glad to hear that Hungary was also interested in Tunisia. Most of the foreign relations of his country are in Europe, they have had a free-trade agreement with the EU since 1995. Tunisia is characteristically is a basis for international companies that are working in the region. This had been the situation before the war, but after the change in the system, investors can expect even more democratic, more transparent economic environment now. According to Mr. Alaya Bettaieb Hungary could be a bridge between Tunisia and the East-European countries. The undersecretary emphasized the areas of agriculture and environment protection for Hungarian enterprises to expect the greatest success. He considers student-exchange programs fruitful too. It is sad statistics that only two of the 3200 European companies working in Tunisia are Hungarian.
The cooperation agreement for the organisations of Hungarian and Tunisian businessmen was signed at the press conference. On the Tunisian side it was Mr. Zoubeir Chaieb, president, who signed the document that includes the activities of the Tunisian-Hungarian Business Council, and on the Hungarian side Mr. Sándor Balogh, president signed the agreement.
In the Tunisian panel of the conference Mr. Zoubeir Chaieb, member of the board of Arab Company Managers introduced Tunisia, Mr. Khaled Benjamaa, the CEO of a Car and Car Parts Trading Company spoke about Hungarian-Tunisian relations, Maitre Hédi Atig, international lawyer of Atig Law Office presented the economic regulations of Tunisian life, Mr. Zoubeir Chaieb, CEO of Aetech Advanced Technologies gave a presentation on the Tunisian market of informatics and cooperation possibilities. In the Moroccan panel Mr. Hicham Boudraa, Vice-president of Moroccan Investment and Export Agency introduced Morocco, Mr. Abdelaziz Dahbi, CEO of Sté Bituma spoke about business and investment opportunities. In the Algerian panel Mr. Arezki Bouraine, managing director of MERIDIEN-COM talked about the history of Algerian-Hungarian relations and opportunities for newly established connections. In the afternoon there were B2B sessions in order to ensure building relations directly.