PH to open labor office in Budapest

The Philippines will be opening a Migrant Workers Office in Budapest, Hungary, Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said on Thursday after his meeting with Hungarian Foreign and Trade Minister Péter Szijjárto in Makati City.

“Hungary has been home to a fast-growing number of Filipino workers, now numbering around 16,000. I am aware of the appreciation of Hungarians for the high quality of work provided by our workers and the positive contributions of Filipinos to Hungarian society,” he said.

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Manalo said the Philippines and Hungary also tackled bilateral trade and investments and thanked the European country for its support for Free Trade Agreement negotiations between the Philippines and the European Union as he expressed confidence that the talks would gain momentum with Hungary’s upcoming presidency of the EU council.

Hungary, he said, is also one of the Philippines’ active partners in higher education with 142 students completing the Stipendium Hungaricum Programme.

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The two diplomats also discussed the situation in the South China Sea, in relation to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2016 Arbitral Award. —JANE BAUTISTA