Hungary is an important market for Italian products

The demand for Italian products keeps growing in Hungary: in 2015 Italian export to Hungary grew by 7.7 percent and in the first five months of 2016 the growth rate was 9.3 percent – the second biggest among the countries that export to Hungary. Last year Italy was Hungary’s eighth biggest trading partner with a 4.6-percent share and a value of EUR 3.8 billion.

As for groceries: Italy was the sixth biggest exporter to Hungary with a EUR 250-million value. In 2015 22 percent more Italian food products were sold in the Hungarian market and the trend continued this year. According to Marco Bulf, director of the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade’s (ICE-Agenzia) Budapest office, several Italian food brands can be found in shops but there is still place for more, as Italian cuisine is very popular in Hungary. He added that ICE-Agenzia’s task is the development of foreign trade and supporting Italian companies – especially SMEs – in entering foreign markets with their products.

ICE-Agenzia works in close cooperation with the regions of Italy and the organisations of enterprises. ICE-Agenzia is 90 years old in 2016 and operates as a modern, state-owned organisation with a flexible structure that has its headquarters in Rome. There is an office in Milan and there are 65 offices abroad. The Budapest office opened in 1969 and this indicates very well how important the Hungarian market is for Italy.