By Aysu Bicer and Goksel Yildirim
ANKARA (AA) - Turk Eximbank on Monday signed a reinsurance cooperation agreement with MEHIB, Hungary's official export credit agency, Turkey's trade minister said on Monday.
The deal aims to facilitate insurance/reinsurance support to projects undertaken jointly by Turkish and Hungarian companies in third countries, with a faster and more efficient loan allocation process utilizing single documentation and common financial conditions.
"This agreement will be aimed at meeting the financing needs of the two countries' business world in projects to be realized in third countries," Ruhsar Pekcan said at a news conference.
"Our mutual trade has reached $2.7 billion, with efforts continuing to reach the $6 billion target aimed by our President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister of Hungary," Pekcan added.
Turk Eximbank has established similar strategic collaboration schemes with other regional/multinational financial institutions and banks.
Previously, it signed reinsurance cooperation agreements with the US, UK, France, and Denmark export credit institutions.
The first concrete transaction as part of reinsurance agreements came after the deal was signed with UKEF, the UK's export support organization, in July 2020. The agreement, which aims to construct power plants in Iraq, includes the export of goods and services from Turkey.
Noting that there are tenders for high-speed trains and electric buses in Hungary, Pekcan said Turkish companies have a good chance to get the tenders.
She stated they asked Hungarian Foreign and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto to support the Turkish businesspeople and the staff working in Hungary in obtaining a "D" type (long-term) visa.
Speaking about the transit document issue between the two countries, she said: "We still have some problems with our trucks waiting at the Romanian-Hungarian border.
"Our transporters have some problems with the electronic registration system," the minister added.