Hungary wants to accelerate free trade talks with the countries of Southeast Asia, with Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines, Szijjártó said.
While Europeans were occupied with "outdated, ideological debates", countries in Southeast Asia were establishing the world's biggest free trade zone, he added, referring to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) free trade agreement among the Asia-Pacific nations.
It would be in the EU's interest to form the "closest cooperation possible" with the RCEP countries, whose economies account for around 29% of global GDP, he said.
He warned that nobody would enter a free trade agreement with the EU if the aim was to "lecture" partners "politically and ideologically".
In the past 10 years, Hungary's trade with countries in Southeast Asia has climbed around 75%, he said. "Hungary is proof that East-West cooperation can yield enormous benefits," he added.
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