Speakers

Petra Ponevács-Pana has been serving as a Deputy State Secretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade since November 1, 2014. Since taking office, she works closely with the business community and helps advance the Government’s priorities of expanding growth and business opportunity for all Hungarian business partners and investors.

She worked as a Deputy Secretary for Foreign Economic Relations until June 22, 2018. She was focused on expanding trade and developing FDI in Hungary.
From June, 2018 she works as Deputy State Secretary for Investment Promotion. In respect of her responsibility for investment promotion she initiates, coordinates and implements the government measures and actions aiming at enhancing foreign and domestic investments. In this work she closely cooperates with the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency. She prepares and submits proposals for government decision on granting cash subsidy to particular investments, on investments of priority importance to national economy and on concluding strategic cooperation agreements with corporations which playing determining role in Hungarian economy. She coordinates and heads the Working Groups which are established with companies on the basis of the strategic cooperation agreements.

She is also responsible for forming government's position on the common commercial policy of the European Union and for its representation at the competent bodies of the European Union as she serves as a Titulaire of Hungary at the Trade Policy Committee. She responsible for negotiations of Bilateral Investment Treatis with third-countries outside of the European Union too. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade operates Joint Economic Commissions (JEC) with 59 countries from all over the world. JEC, as one of the main tools in achieving the foreign economic objectives, provide an appropriate framework for reviewing and developing the already existing bilateral cooperation and the economic relations at large with a given country. Beyond their significance related to foreign trade and economic development, the sessions of the JEC and the meetings of the co-chairs also contribute to the shaping of the country image, the cultural promotion of the given country and the strengthening of the cooperation in the field of education. In respect of her responsibility for JEC she coordinates and provides professional supervision of the cooperation in the framework of JEC-s.

Before her nomination as Deputy State Secretary for Foreign Economic Relations of Hungary, she held different positions in the public sector.

Deputy State Secretary Ponevács-Pana earned her degree in law “J.D.” from University of Miskolc, took her bar exam in 2010 and she speaks besides her Hungarian mother tongue, English, German and Russian.