Hungary opens consulate in Mumbai; invites India Inc to invest

Visiting Hungarian premier Viktor Orban today said his country is looking at increasing bilateral trade with India as he invited investments from the corporates.

"We are looking at increasing the bilateral trade with India and opening our consulate here will help in this," Orban said at a business summit organised by industry body CII.

Earlier, he opened the consulate office here.

Inviting India Inc to invest in Hungary, Orban said the central European nation provides a lot of opportunities in the field of IT, biotechnology, automobiles, construction, energy, water and waste management.

According to government data, the value of bilateral trade in 2012 was $642 million.

CII expressed hope that it will touch $1 billion-mark soon.

Nearly 9,000 Indians are working in Hungary today and companies like Tata Consultancy and CG Electric have major presence in the central European country, he said.

In a bid to boost tourism and strengthen economic ties, Hungary is keen to establish direct air connectivity with India.

Orban expressed hope that a direct flight between Budapest and Mumbai will help boost tourism and strengthen economic ties.

"A direct flight is a must. We hope direct flight from Mumbai to Budapest will be launched soon," Orban said.

Both the governments have had intensive negotiations in New Delhi and have agreed to set up a joint committee, which will look into difficulties in trade and prepare report to smoothen the business process, Orban said.

The Hungarian prime minister also met a business delegation and addressed a Hungary-India business forum.

Since 1990, India and Hungary have signed several agreements to promote bilateral relationship including air services agreement, double taxation avoidance agreement, bilateral investment protection and promotion agreement, social security agreement as well as agreements on cooperation in health, agriculture, IT, science & technology and defence.

Domestic companies have already invested $1.5 billion in Hungary, providing employment to about 9,000 people.

Kicking off his state visit in New Delhi earlier this week, Orban had interactions with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, senior Cabinet ministers and President Pranab Mukherjee.