Hungarian president to Visit Morocco in January

Hungarian president Goencz A'rpad will visit Morocco next January, Hungarian prime minister, Victor Orban, announced in Budapest Monday.

The head of the Hungarian government made the announcement at a joint press conference with visiting Moroccan peer, Abderrahmane Youssoufi, following the signing of a package of cooperation agreements.

Orban also announced that speaker of the Moroccan house of representatives, Abdelouahed Radi, will visit Hungary in January.

Hungary proposed that the two countries hold meetings of joint interior, agriculture and tourism ministerial commissions.

The Hungarian premier said Youssoufi's visit will open a new chapter in relations between the two countries, describing Morocco, which has adopted major economic reforms, as an important partner for his country.

He added that Hungary's interest for south Mediterranean countries will increase in the coming years as soon as Budapest enters the NATO institutions in 1999.

He said his country, being a future member of the European Union, grants a particular attention to security and stability in the Mediterranean.

Trade exchanges between the two countries, which have always been weak, dropped substantially in the beginning of the 1980s to stand at usd 15 million, including 10 million in favor of Hungary. The drop is imputed to the deep structural reforms operated in the east European country upon the shift to free economy.