Building ties with fast-developing regions in the world, including South America, is a priority for the Hungarian government, Szijjártó’s press chief Éva Varga quoted the state secretary as saying at the meeting. As a result of those endeavors, bilateral trade between Hungary and Brazil has increased by 75% during the past three years, Varga said.

Last November, the first Hungarian-Brazilian Economic Joint Committee (HBEJC) meeting was held in Brasília. The meeting saw several cooperation agreements and declarations of intent signed in agriculture and the food industry, including within ecological farming, biodiversity, gene preservation, viticulture/viniculture, forestry, food safety, aquaculture and education sub-sectors.

At that time, Brazil was described as “the most significant trade partner of Hungary in South America.” Government statistics showed that Hungarian exports to Brazil increased nearly 55% year-on-year in 2011, followed by further growth in imports from and exports to Brazil in 2012.

Deputy Prime Minister László Kövér met with Brazilian Vice President Michael Temer in June in Budapest, with the pair announcing Brazil’s importation of 15,000 breeding freshwater fish and plans to increase available academic scholarships for Brazilian students in Hungarian higher education to 2,000.

– Material from Gergő Rácz was used in this story