Trade between Vietnam and Hungary remains below potential and both sides need to seek new cooperative projects in their fields of strength, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has said.

He made the remarks at his reception for Secretary of State at the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Mikola István in Hanoi on March 12.

The Deputy PM suggested the implementation of signed agreements and memoranda of understanding and the development of new projects on such advantageous fields as science-technology, agriculture, and environmental protection.

He also mentioned the early signing of agreements involving banking and animal and plant quarantine.

The Deputy PM attributed a rise in two-way trade in 2014 to joint efforts by both sides, in particular the Governments and businesses, and reasserted that Hungary is one of Vietnam’s leading trade partners.

Secretary of State at the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Mikola István is in Vietnam for the sixth meeting of the Vietnam-Hungary Joint Committee on Economic Cooperation as Chairman of the Hungarian sub-committee.

He underscored Vietnam’s role in ASEAN, expecting the country to help Hungary broaden ties with other regional nations.

He also proposed the Vietnamese Government create more favourable conditions to facilitate Hungarian enterprises’ operations in Vietnam.-VNA