Undersecretary of State Manlio Di Stefano has concluded his official visit to Hungary after visiting Budapest on 5 and 6 May, where he had several institutional meetings and attended the first stage of the Giro d’Italia.
During his mission, Undersecretary Di Stefano had a fruitful working meeting with the Hungarian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Levente Magyar, and with several members of the HIPA, the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency. The meeting focused on the bilateral economic relations between Italy and Hungary, where approximately 2,000 Italian companies operate principally in the financial, manufacturing, automotive, agrifood, textile, chemical, and electronics sectors with a stock of foreign investments worth over 2.4 billion euros according to 2020 data. In 2021, trade between Italy and Hungary reached 11.5 billion euros, up 21.1% from 2020 and 12.6% from 2019. “With Deputy Minister Magyar, we talked about how to further strengthen our bilateral cooperation on all fronts,” said Hon. Di Stefano. The Undersecretary and his counterpart also discussed the Ukrainian crisis, underscoring the “importance of maintaining a cohesive stand among European partners to counter Russia’s intent to create fractures within the EU and NATO.” He went on: “This is why it is advisable to proceed to place an immediate embargo on Russian oil, designing a mechanism of exceptions and transitory periods to take into consideration the needs of the Countries that entirely depend on Russia.”
Undersecretary Di Stefano subsequently attended the first stage of the Giro d’Italia, a great global sport event included in the “beIT” nation branding promotion campaign targeted on 26 Countries and aimed at improving knowledge of the know-how, traditions, technologies, and innovations that distinguish the excellence of Italy’s productions. “With hundreds of millions of cycling enthusiasts around the world, the Italian race assures our Country great international visibility, promotes sustainable mobility and the exploration of our territory,” said Hon. Di Stefano. “In 2021, our cycling industry exported almost a billion euros worth of complete bicycles and bicycle parts. We have maximized our efforts to further increase the figures and protect our manufacturers against the risk of unfair competition and dumping activities from the Asian market,” Undersecretary Di Stefano concluded.
