On 30 April 2012, Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul met with Mr. Janos Martonyi, the Hungarian Foreign Minister, on the occasion of his official visit to Thailand after attending the 19th ASEAN-EU Ministerial Meeting in Brunei Darussalam, gist as follows;
Foreign Minister Surapong raised issues on economic relations, particularly on the trade value which has reached almost $600 million dollars. This has substantially surpassed the goal set during the 1st Meeting of Joint Economic Commission (JEC) in Bangkok in 2005. The Hungarian Foreign Minister was satisfied with the increase in trade value and encouraged Thailand to import more goods from the country. Foreign Minister Martonyi viewed Thailand as an important gateway for Hungary in the Southeast Asian region, while Hungary was ready to be a gateway for Thailand in the Central and Eastern parts of Europe.
Both sides agreed to increase cooperation in other areas such as water resource management and water transportation. In particular, Thailand expressed interest in the water management of Hungary and hoped to forge cooperation between Mekong River Commission (MRC) and Danube Commission (DC) henceforth. As of now, there has only been networking at the academic level.
In addition, Thailand wished to promote cultural cooperation with Hungary, and cooperation between the Royal Thai Police and the Hungarian police, while Hungary wished to see more cooperation in education.
For further information, please contact the Press Division, Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tel.02-6435170, Fax.02-6435169, E-mail: div0704@mfa.go.th