00:00Meanwhile the Hungarian government expressed its desire to resume its free
00:04trade agreement negotiations with the Philippines. Soojin Kim tells us more.
00:11Hungary is restarting free trade agreement negotiations once they
00:15officially assume the presidential seat in the European Union in July. Foreign
00:19Minister Peter Siardo says they will concentrate on accelerating free trade
00:24agreements between Europe and Asia particularly Southeast Asia. Hungary is
00:28on the side of free trade. We see the many advantages brought forward by free
00:35trade. Right now Philippine-Hungarian trade amounts to no less than 200
00:39million dollars. The ministers attribute this to the Philippines's strategy of
00:44regionalizing poultry exports. Hungary is also pursuing a 33 million dollar
00:48investment in the Philippines's water management system. We encourage Hungary
00:53to look into investing in the Philippines in areas of agriculture, ICT,
00:58digital technologies, water technologies. Hungary is home to a fast-growing number
01:03of Filipino workers now numbering 16,000. And I'm aware of the appreciation of
01:09Hungarians for the high quality work provided by our workers as well as the
01:14positive contributions of Filipinos to Hungarian society. The Department of
01:19Migrant Workers also announced it will open a migrant workers office in
01:23Budapest soon. On the other hand Hungary is also encouraging Filipinos to
01:27partake in the 35 kinds of scholarships available in vital fields such as public
01:32health. Every year Hungary receives more than 200 requests for scholarship from
01:36Filipinos. Regarding the South China Sea Hungary says they advocate for dialogue
01:41and diplomacy. We should return to what we call mutual respect in international
01:48politics. Moving forward both the Philippines and Hungary assure their
01:52commitments to advancing bilateral initiatives. I'm confident that we can
01:56further strengthen our ties and collaboration for the mutual benefit of
02:01our two nations. Both ministers expressed their initiatives to pursue efforts
02:05toward peace and stability in line with international law. Soojin Kim from the
02:10National TV Network for the New and Better Philippines.
