The state of Hungary on Friday signed an agreement on establishing a port and logistics base in Trieste to give Hungarian companies easier access to export markets.

Hungary has purchased a 32-hectare plot with 300m of seafront for EUR 31m in the framework of a 60-year concession agreement, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto said at a joint press conference with Italian Minister of the Interior Matteo Salvini.

Investments worth close to an additional EUR 100m will be carried out at the site, he added.

Traffic passing through the port is expected to reach about 2m tonnes a year, or 78,000 containers.

Mr Salvini said he had discussed cooperation in the areas of energy, farming and food production with Mr Szijjarto. The sides also touched on partnering on big infrastructure projects, he added.

Mr Szijjarto initially announced the government’s plans to set up the port in Trieste in June.