On the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary to Kazakhstan

On the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary to Kazakhstan

Nur-Sultan, May 3, 2022 – A working visit to Nur-Sultan was made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, Péter Szijjártó, who was received by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

This visit is being held in the year of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our states. Hungary is the first state in the region of Central and Eastern Europe with which Kazakhstan has established strategic partnership relations.

During the negotiations with the Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Tileuberdi, issues of political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation were discussed in the spirit of openness and mutual understanding. An exchange of views took place on topical issues of the global and regional agenda. The Hungarian side was informed about the large-scale political reforms being carried out in the country and several socio-economic measures.

The dynamic development of trade, economic and investment cooperation is evidenced by the fact that, despite the coronavirus pandemic, last year the volume of bilateral trade increased by 23.2%, reaching 138.7 million US dollars. Further diversification of Kazakhstan exports to Hungary will be served by our country's readiness to supply products of the oil and gas, metallurgical, chemical, construction and food industries on mutually beneficial terms.

Since 2005, direct investments in the amount of 269 million US dollars have been attracted to the economy of Kazakhstan from Hungary, and this figure is growing from year to year. Such large Hungarian companies as “MOL”, “Gedeon Richter”, “Egis” and others are represented on the domestic market. Joint projects are implemented in such important areas as energy, including renewable energy sources, as well as oil and gas, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, transport and logistics.

During the negotiations, it was also noted that the opening of representative offices by Hungarian companies at the site of the Astana International Financial Center will contribute to the expansion of their presence in the markets of the entire Central Asian region.

Education is an important element of bilateral cooperation. Currently, about a thousand Kazakhstani students are studying in Hungary. For these purposes, the Hungarian side annually allocates 250 grants. There is a growing number of students interested in getting education in the Hungarian language. Since last year, the Kazakh language has been taught at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, while the Hungarian language at the L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University in Nur-Sultan. Kazakhstani and Hungarian youth will continue to strengthen the “living bridges” between our countries.

Today's visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary P. Szijjártó to Kazakhstan gives an additional impetus to strengthening the strategic partnership and mutually beneficial cooperation between Nur-Sultan and Budapest in a bilateral and multilateral format.