VISITING OF THE INDONESIAN TRADE MINISTER TO HUNGARY FOR THE PURPOSE OF ENHANCING THE BILATERAL RELATION ON TRADE, TOURISM AND INVESTMENT

The Minister of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia, Dr. Mari Elka Pangestu together with officials from the Indonesian Ministry of Trade visited Hungary on 11-13 June 2007.  The visit of the minister was also accompanied by businessmen from Indonesia to attend a business forum occasion with their counterpart from Hungary, Czech Republic, Macedonia and Slovakia.  The visit was aimed to improve the economic bilateral relations especially in the field of trade, tourism and investment.

During this official visit, the Indonesian Minister of Trade had meetings with the Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament, Dr. Katalin Szili¹, the Minister of Economy and Transportation, Dr. Janos Koka², the Minister  of Finance, Dr. Janos Veres³, the President Director of EXIM Bank, Dr. Zoltan Boldnar⁴ and the CEO of Hungarian Investment and Trade Development Agency, Mr. Gyorgy Retfalvi.  On those meetings, they discussed and exchanged the views and experiences on many aspects particularly the possibilities to enhance the bilateral relation on economic and trade, including the investment, export-import and other related fields.

At the Business Forum⁵ held at Intercontinental Hotel, the Indonesian Trade Minister held presentation concerning economic development, trade and investment potential in Indonesia.  In addition⁶, the Minister also presented guidance and essential information for the officials related to economic field of the Indonesian Embassies in East and Central Europe, trade attachés from East and Western Europe, Washington and Ottawa, and also to the Head of Indonesian Trade Promotion Center (ITPC) from Budapest and Sao Paolo.   The meeting held at Intercontinental Hotel, Budapest was also attended by keynote speaker from the Indonesian Trade Ministry, the Indonesian National Agency for Export Development (BPEN), the Indonesia‘s Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) and Department of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Indonesia.

On the meeting with the Hungarian Minister of Economy and Transportation, the Indonesian Trade Minister reminded her counterpart concerning the Joint Commission Meeting that will be held in Indonesia in October 2007.  The Indonesian Foreign Minister will be the coordinator for the Indonesian delegation; meanwhile, Mr. Koka Janos will be the Head of Hungarian Delegation to come to Indonesia in October/November 2007.

On 13 June 2007, the Indonesian Trade Minister  and the Indonesian Ambassador in Budapest, H.E Mangasi Sihombing attended the signing ceremony⁷ of the MOU on cooperation in trade promotion between the Indonesian National Agency for Export Development and Hungarian Investment and Trade Development Agency.