Kover said the OMEK was continuously growing in drawing power, noting that the biennial event is expected to draw some 100,000 visitors this year. The house speaker attributed this to rising demand for healthy GMO-free Hungarian agricultural products.

He said that the motto of this year’s event, “Treasures of the Carpathian Basin”, referred to the importance of a regional approach as well as the attention devoted to Hungarian farmers beyond the border and non-Hungarian farmers of the region.

Output of Hungary’s agriculture sector totalled over 2,619 billion forints (EUR 8.5bn) last year, Kover said, adding that farm exports increased by 37.5 percent in the past six years. The sector’s foreign trade surplus also increased by 34.9 percent in the same period, he added.

Sandor Fazekas, the farm minister, said that 122 farmers from beyond the border would be present at the expo. More than 50,000 jobs have been created in the agriculture sector over the past few years, which shows that the sector has been stabilised and is on a path of development, the minister said.