Exhibition showcases Hungarian products, services in bid to diversify bilateral trade

Photo by Hassan Tamimi

AMMAN — A two-day exhibition of Hungarian products and services that concluded on Tuesday sought to build new partnerships between Hungarian and Jordanian business people, according to a Hungarian official. 

The event is a chance to diversify bilateral trade, mainly agricultural products, to include technological services and innovative solutions, Levente Magyar, state secretary of Hungary’s ministry of foreign affairs and trade, told The Jordan Times at the opening on Monday.

Organised by the Hungarian National Trading House in Amman, the exhibition presented an opportunity for building partnerships in the agriculture, food industry, energy and engineering services sectors, he noted.

Magyar highlighted the significance of the exhibition, as it allows face-to-face interaction between business people.

“As a country that relies on foreign investments, Hungary expects... Jordanian investors to start businesses in Hungary,” he said, describing bilateral cooperation and diplomatic ties as “great”.

Calling on Jordanian businesspeople to visit his country to explore and learn about its culture, Magyar said it is an important pillar for starting a business.  

During the event, Jordanian Consul in Budapest Zeid Naffaa said Hungary will host a similar exhibition for Jordanian companies this fall, 

He also cited Hungary’s readiness to establish a logistics centre in Jordan to serve local and regional markets.

Naffaa noted that boosting bilateral trade cooperation will increase Jordan’s exports and ultimately improve the performance of the national economy, urging Jordanians to benefit from Hungarian expertise, including LED city lighting technologies.

“Jordan is to create a similar centre for Jordanian goods in Hungary, which will also serve southern Europe, especially during winter,” he told The Jordan Times on Monday.

Representatives of 35 Hungarian companies participated in a field trip where they met with local producers, Naffaa said, adding that the Hungarian market could import Dead Sea products, olive oil and handicrafts.

There is “great” potential for Hungarian products in the Jordanian market, according to Dimitrije Ilankovic, representative of a Hungarian chocolate company, who said several Jordanian businessmen expressed interest in setting up partnerships.

“What we need as Hungarian companies is importers and distributors,” he told The Jordan Times.

Another representative of a Hungarian IT services company voiced hope for initiating partnerships with large Jordanian firms in the Electronic Queue Management System.

“With Jordan creating its first nuclear power station, we can really cooperate in the field of industrial automation and earthquake management,” Zoltan Lazar said, highlighting the growing popularity of such software globally.

Commending the “flexibility” of the Jordanian market, he noted that Jordanians are “easy to work with”.