Hungary will grant a 60-million-euro (88 million U.S. dollar) aid loan to Vietnam under an agreement signed by the two countries' prime ministers on Friday.

The loan will be used to build an oncological center with 500 beds in southern Vietnam, Hungarian Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai said at a press conference after talks with his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Tan Dung.

Bajnai said Vietnam was a key partner for Hungary in South-East Asia, and next year would be the 60th anniversary of the establishment of formal diplomatic ties between the two countries.

The global economic crisis had given further impetus to cooperation between the two countries, he said.

Although the crisis had somewhat slowed bilateral trade, turnover had doubled in the past five years, Bajnai added.

The two sides signed several other accords during the day, including a protocol on nuclear research between the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and Vietnam's National University in Hanoi.

Nguyen Tan Dung, who is on a two-day official visit to Hungary, said the Vietnamese president would visit the country early next year.