Hungary is an important partner of Belarus in Central Europe, Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov noted during his meeting with State Secretary of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry Gyorgy Gilyan, State Secretary in Minsk on June 3. According to Sergei Martynov, the Belarusian-Hungarian relations in economic area develop dynamically. According to Sergei Martynov, the visit of the State Secretary of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry to Belarus “makes an important contribution to understanding each other”. The opening of the Hungarian Embassy in Belarus today attests to it as well. The Belarusian Foreign Minister also noted the importance of the Belarusian-Hungarian intergovernmental agreement on economic cooperation which have been signed in Hungary recently. In turn, Gyorgy Gilyan noted that he considers the Belarusian-Hungarian relations in trade, economic and cultural areas as promising. According to the Hungarian Embassy in Minsk, Gyorgy Gilyan will take part in a solemn ceremony of the opening of the Hungarian Embassy. On June 3, he will also open an exhibition of famous Hungarian graphic artist Liviusz Gyulai in the Belarusian State Arts Academy. According to the information provided by the Ministry of Statistics and Analysis, in 2007 trade between Belarus and Hungary was up 29% from 2006 to $270.4 million. Exports made up $140 million (up 43.2%), imports $130.4 million. Belarus posted a surplus n trade with Hungary at the amount of $9.6 million. In January-March 2008, mutual trade between Belarus and Hungary amounted to $83.7 million, up 38.5%. Belarusian exports to Hungary which are oil products, tractors, ferrous metals and products of them, timber goods, potash fertilizers, made up $49.2 million (up 54.7%). Belarus imports from Hungary mainly medicines, TV sets, phones and other electrical goods, agricultural machines. Belarusian imports from that country made up $34.5 million (up 20.6%).