Hungarian SMEs in talks about business opportunities in Kazakhstan

About 60 Hungarian businesses participated in the Kazakh-Hungarian businessmen’s forum organised by Hungarian National Trading House Zrt. (MNKH). A 17-person delegation came from South Kazakhstan looking for business partners in Hungary in the following sectors: agriculture, machinery manufacturing, energy, building and construction, logistics, health and pharmaceuticals. László Balogh, MNKH’s director responsible for the CIS and the Balkans told that in 2013 trading between the two countries amounted to USD 261 million, from which Hungary’s export was up 34.3 percent from the level of 2012 at USD 210 million. Currently 58 Hungarian firms and Hungarian-Kazakh joint ventures are active in Kazakhstan. Head of the Kazakh delegation Marat Karabayev spoke about how they support foreign investors, from tax incentives to legal security to a special ombudsman assisting foreign enterprises. In the afternoon the participants conducted business negotiations.