In the last five years, trade between the Visegrad Four (V4) and South Korea has increased by 40 percent, and we hope that the cooperation will extend beyond the economy to scientific and technological fields as well, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on the V4 and South Korea at the press conference following the summit on Thursday in the Várkert Bazaar.
The Hungarian Prime Minister highlighted: five success stories met here in Budapest; the Central European economies are also having "good years" behind them and have good prospects, and South Korea is among the world champions in terms of growth and technological development. He said: in the last five years, the trade turnover between the Visegrad countries and Korea has increased by 40 percent, and it continued to grow even in last year's "black year" of the world economy, reaching 20 billion dollars for the first time in history.
He explained: Korea has a GDP of 1.6 trillion dollars, and the GDP of the V4 is a total of 1.1 trillion dollars. "If we were one country, then the V4, just like Korea, could be members of the G20," emphasized Viktor Orbán. According to him, this clearly shows that South Korea and the V4 have a similar perspective on the world economy.
He emphasized: the timing of the meeting is explained by the fact that they all felt that a new world economic era was emerging; there is enormous competition in the world for the redistribution of production capacities, because the capacities closed due to the pandemic are not reopened in the same place where they were created before.
A large part of them are moving, looking for a new place, and "we, the V4 countries, entered this competition, we want to attract as much of the world's investments as possible" to the area of the Visegrád Four, he declared. He added: South Korea is known for being one of the leading states in innovation, and the V4 also want to take advantage of this epochal change in the world economy.
Viktor Orbán said: at the meeting, the Korean president was asked to monitor the construction of the V4 high-speed railway, the largest joint economic venture of the V4. He indicated: it is an 800-kilometer long railway track investment, the four capitals would be connected by high-speed rail, and they want to reduce the 12-hour journey time to 5 hours. He expressed his hope that this investment will attract the interest of the Korean industry as well.
He also mentioned that they hope that the cooperation between South Korea and the V4 will extend beyond the economy to scientific and technological fields from the current meeting.
In the picture published by the Prime Minister's Press Office, South Korean President Moon Jae-in (b2), Hungarian Viktor Orbán (l), Czech Andrej Babis (l), Slovakian Eduard Heger (l2) and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki at the V4-Korea summit in Budapest, in the Castle Bazaar
Photo: MTI/Prime Minister's Press Office
At the press conference following the summit of the Visegrad countries (V4: Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia) and South Korea, South Korean President Moon Jae-in emphasized that the Visegrad leaders showed the power of V4 cooperation with an open mind.
He believed that there are many similarities between the Visegrád region and South Korea, that after the Cold War rapid democratization and economic development were typical in both places. Peace and harmony define the relations between the V4 and South Korea, the Visegrád group is an important trading partner and investment target for South Korea, many major South Korean companies are present here, he pointed out.
The South Korean president mentioned science and technology, energy and infrastructure as well as youth relations as important areas of cooperation. He also called the prevention of the epidemic, the fight against the climate crisis, and the support of the Western Balkans an important international issue.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki highlighted the importance of economic cooperation, especially in the field of innovative technologies. In addition, the climate crisis and energy prices were important topics at the current meeting. He touched on the fact that migration pressure was also discussed in connection with the Afghan situation. The position of the Visegrad countries on this issue has now become widespread in the European Union, after the previous warning of the V4 proved correct, he said.
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis emphasized: the Hungarian V4 presidency is extremely active, and the organization of the current meeting was also a very important step . South Korea is an important trade partner for the Visegrád group, he said. He emphasized: the V4 is fighting to increase Europe's competitiveness and make its role in the world economy more significant, and building relations with South Korea is an important element in this.
Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger spoke about the fact that the world has recently faced major health, economic and energy challenges, and that partnership, cooperation and friendship between countries are particularly important at this time. At the same time, it is also important not only to build regional European relations, but also to develop cooperation on a broader international level, which is why today's meeting is useful - he assessed. He added that South Korea and the V4 have a lot in common, the countries share common values such as democracy, the free market and the rule of law.
Source: MTI
Featured image: South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán shake hands at the press conference held at the V4-South Korea summit in Budapest, in the Várkert Bazaar
Photo: MTI/Prime Minister's Press Office
