TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - In a bid to increase the bilateral trade with Indonesia, Hungary opened the Hungarian Trade House last month. It is an agency under the country’s foreign ministry to help Hungarian businesses settle in Indonesia. Judit Nemeth-Pach, the Hungarian Ambassador to Indonesia, said that the opening of the agency aimed to facilitate business relations between both countries.

“And it will bring other Hungarian companies to open their offices here in Indonesia,” she said at J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta during a media gathering on Thursday, November 12, 2015. She further said that Hungary is one of the EU countries that could survive well during the global economic slowdown with 3.6 percent GDP this year.

Nemeth-Pach, believes that the economic relationship between Indonesia and Hungary will be beneficial for both with the latter offering technology transfer in fields such as IT, infrastructure development, water and waste water management, renewable energy, smart city solutions, medical devices and pharmaceutical.

The two countries’ annual bilateral trade also continues to increase every year. In 2014, the trade value between Indonesia and Hungary reached $158.99 million. It was an increase from $134.88 million in 2013 and $90.48 million in 2012.

AMANDA SIDDHARTA