Envoy says Hungary’s tourist market open for Azerbaijani investments

By Azernews

By Amina Nazarli

Hungary has called on Azerbaijan to invest in the country’s tourism market. 

Ambassador of Hungary to Baku Imre Laslotski said that his country’s tourism market is open to Azerbaijani investments.

“The Hungarian tourism market is quite diverse and well developed, but it is not crowded. There will always be segments that are worth developing. Of course, we would welcome the Azerbaijani capital in sectors such as hospitality management, thermal and health tourism, and the sphere of real estate in general,” the ambassador told Trend.

The tourism market is one of the fastest growing sectors of the Hungarian economy, according to Laslotski. Its share in the Hungarian GDP is 10.4 percent. Every year the country receives more than 20 million foreign and about 15 million domestic tourists.

The diplomat went on further noting that experts believe that Hungary is an ideal country for investment in the tourism sector, logistics and informatics.

"Institutionally, the promotion of Hungarian investment projects entrusted to the Hungarian National Agency for Investment Promotion - H?PA. The website of this organization (https://hipa.hu/hip-real-estate) presents a number of investment projects in tourism sphere worth from 7 to 150 million euros,” he said.

The embassy regularly informs appropriate structures of Azerbaijan about the investment proposals of Hungary, said the diplomat.

“Hungary provides an attractive, multi-step system to encourage foreign investment, including tax incentives, direct government grants, grants for training, as well as raising funds from the European funds. Depending on the region and the number of created jobs, as well as the volume of investments (5, 10 or 20 million euros) investors are provided with individual preferences system,” Laslotski explained,

Today Azerbaijani business is investing in the construction of hotels and resort areas in foreign countries, including Montenegro, Georgia and Turkey.

Hungary recognized Azerbaijan's independence in 1991, and diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in April 1992.

The two countries enjoy a huge capacity for the development of trade and economic cooperation, as Hungarian companies consider the Azerbaijani market as an alternative to the Russian market, on the background of EU sanctions. Hungary is also a good platform for Azerbaijani investors.

The governments of both countries have expressed interest in increasing bilateral trade.