Kazakhstan, Hungary to boost comprehensive cooperation
As part of his official visit to Budapest, Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu had bilateral talks with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto. The sides discussed the prospects for further strengthening of the Kazakh-Hungarian cooperation in political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres and interaction within international and regional organizations, Kazinform News Agency reports via the Kazakh MFA.
As Murat Nurtleu said, Astana and Budapest enjoy meaningful political dialogue at all levels.
Hungary is our close ally, as well as the only country in the Central and Eastern Europe that has established strategic partnership with us. We are united not only by political and economic interests, but also by common historical roots, kinship and fraternal relations, Murat Nurtleu said.
In turn, Peter Szijjarto expressed satisfaction with a high level of friendship between the countries established across the entire spectrum of interaction.
We are ready to develop relevant areas of our partnership and will make every effort to do so. Hungarian companies have excellent opportunities in Kazakhstan, the Hungarian minister stressed.
The meeting also discussed the issues of expansion of trade, economic, investment ties, as well as energy cooperation. The parties confirmed their readiness for active cooperation in the elaboration of specific joint projects.
Hungary has invested more than 300 million US dollars in Kazakhstan in the past 20 years. The sides are negotiating now the implementation of investment projects worth 490 million US dollars in such areas as mechanical engineering, agriculture and logistics.
Kazakhstan fully supports the ongoing and new projects and is ready to provide comfortable conditions for further successful activities of Hungarian business.
Another issue on the meeting agenda was the study of the Kazakh students in Hungary. The sides pointed out the need to train more technical professionals.
As it was noted, Hungary allocates 250 scholarships annually for the Kazakh students, while more than 1,000 Kazakhstanis are pursuing their studies at Hungarian universities today.
The sides also discussed a number of international issues on which Kazakhstan and Hungary interact and coordinate their efforts, including the simplification of the EU visa regime for Kazakhstanis. The political dialogue once again confirmed the closeness of positions on topical issues on the international agenda.
The foreign ministers expressed satisfaction with the results of the negotiations and expressed confidence in the further deepening of fruitful cooperation between the two countries.
Following the meeting, the parties signed an Action plan between the Ministries of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Hungary for 2024-2026.
On the same day, Murat Nurtleu met with Zsolt Hernadi, President of the Hungarian oil and gas company MOL Group. The parties discussed the activities of the company in Kazakhstan, in particular, the imminent launch of Rozhkovskoye gas condensate field in the West Kazakhstan region.
