Magyar said areas of cooperation with Albania include tourism, which has seen fast development in recent years, including developments along the country’s 100-kilometre-long seashore.

Talks will be focusing on investments with Hungarian participation in the region of 10 billion forints (EUR 543.7m) in value. Magyar said they reached an agreement at the meeting on organising regular talks for Hungarian and Albanian business representatives, which would be helped by the direct flights.

Magyar and Karapici are co-chairs of the Hungarian-Albanian Joint Economic Committee. Hungary’s imports from Albania amounted to 4.384 billion forints (EUR 14.2m) in 2015, up from just 631.3 million in 2014, according to data from the Central Statistical Office (KSH).

Hungary’s exports to Albania totalled 17.239 billion forints, compared with 14.605 billion in 2014.

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.

MTI photo: Marjai János