The UAE, represented by the Ministry of Finance (MoF), has signed an agreement to promote and protect mutual investments with Hungary.

The agreement aims to enhance economic cooperation, provide an optimal investment environment, and secure a comprehensive balance between rights and obligations between investors and the host country, thus stimulating business initiatives for sustainable economic development.

Younis Haji Al Khoori, Undersecretary of Ministry of Finance, signed the agreement on behalf of the UAE, while His Excellency Osama Naffa, Hungarian Ambassador to the UAE signed it on behalf of the Hungarian side, in the presence of senior officials from MoF.

The agreement protects both nations' investments from all non-commercial risks including nationalisation, confiscation, judicial seizures, and freezing; and it creates a conducive environment for mutual investments and licensing. It also covers transfer of profits and revenues in convertible currency and provides investors a just and immediate compensation for their investments in case of their appropriation for the public interest –in accordance with the approved law and provided that the compensation value is in accordance with the market value of the investment prior to its seizure.

Younis Haji Al Khoori reaffirmed the UAE's keenness to protect the UAE investments abroad and provide the optimal economic environment to attract foreign investments in accordance with a legal and legislative system that is in line with international best practices. He said: “Agreements on protection and promotion of investments provide the legal framework and grant national and most-favoured-nation (MFN) treatment in the management, maintenance and expansion of investments, with emphasis on non-interference in all investment-related subjects.”

He added: “Hungary is one of the UAE's leading economic partners in the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs). This agreement underscores both nations' efforts to bolster bilateral relations, enhance cooperation in the economic and financial sectors, and encourage the growth of mutual investments.”- TradeArabia News Service