Hungary to Press for Relaunch of EU-Malaysia FTA
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Hungary will relaunch negotiations on a free trade agreement between the European Union and Malaysia when it takes the revolving presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of the year, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.
Negotiations for a FTA between the EU and Malaysia were launched in 2010 but put on hold after seven rounds in 2012.
Hungary will also press 16 EU member states who still need to ratify a cooperation agreement with Malaysia to follow through, Szijjártó said in a statement issued by his ministry after a meeting with his Malaysian counterpart.
He said bilateral trade between Hungary and Malaysia had reached an annual USD 830 mln. He added that the inaugural meeting of the Hungarian-Malaysian Joint Economic Commission would take place soon.
He said the sides would soon close talks on a regionalization agreement that could prevent a complete halt of poultry or pork exports if only limited areas of the country are affected by outbreaks of avian influenza or African swine fever.
He said that Hungarian oil gas company MOL aimed to boost sales of lubricants in Malaysia.
Like Hungary, Malaysia is making efforts to become a regional leader in the automotive industry's transition to electromobility, paving the way for cooperation between technical universities in both countries, he added.
Szijjártó said Malaysia was "an important ally" in advocating global free trade and connectivity while avoiding a return to a world divided into blocs.
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