Hungary opens consulate office in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines — The Embassy of Hungary in the Philippines opened the first consulate office in Southern Philippines in Cebu, indicating its serious stance to strengthen mutual economic and trade partnership with the province.

Hungarian Ambassador to the Philippines Dr. József Bencze was in Cebu Wednesday to officially install Honorary Consul Enrilen Joy Benedicto-Tan.

In an interview with Bencze he said as more Hungarian nationals are now living in the Philippines and consider the country as their preferred vacation destination, his government felt the need to open a consulate office in Cebu.

Significantly, he said his country is also opening its doors to conduct partnership deals with trade players and local government units, particularly in the fields of agriculture, education, water technology system, culture, among others.

The Ambassador hinted that the Hungarian market is hungry for tropical products such as fruits, vegetables and other crops, thus it could be one of the potential markets for agri-based export goods.

The Hungarian Embassy in the Philippines which was re-opened last year in Manila, after 21 years is now starting have discussions with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) to boost investment interests between the two countries.

Hungary is a country in Central Europe with 10 million population. It is a medium-sized member state of the European Union (EU).

According to Bencze, the Embassy and PEZA are planning to organize more business fora in both countries.

Initially, there is an ongoing study a Hungarian institution, funded by Hungarian bank to rehabilitate the Laguna Lake.

In Cebu, the Ambassador has also started to discuss with the Cebu City and Cebu Provincial governments in its interest to help in providing best water system technology, including introduction of cutting-edge equipment in waste-water treatment, among others.

In the field of education, the Hungarian government also announced its interest to partner with universities and colleges to send post graduate students for scholarships in Hungary.

"We are a friendly country to the Philippines," added the Ambassador.

Hungary Minister of Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó visited the Philippines in March 2017 to reopen the Embassy. The visit highlighted the growing importance of the Philippines and its potential for Hungary as a reliable partner in trade and investment, research and education, cultural and people to people exchanges.   

Szijjártó signed several cooperation agreements, including an Agreement on Economic Cooperation establishing the Philippines-Hungary Joint Economic Commission. Secretary of Agriculture Emmanuel Piñol and Secretary of Trade and Industry Ramon Lopez have both visited Hungary since the reopening of the Embassy.