Kazakhstan and Hungary confirms course for closer economic cooperation

Budapest, January 28, 2025 - Abzal Saparbekuly, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Kazakhstan to Hungary  met with Katalin Bihari, Deputy State Secretary for External Economic Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary and held a discussion on current issues and plans for the current year.

During the meeting, the parties noted that in recent years bilateral contacts between Kazakhstan and Hungary have significantly intensified. The importance of the official visit of Prime Minister Viktor Orban to Astana in November 2023 and the state visit of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to Budapest in November 2024, which gave a qualitatively new content to the whole complex of relations, was emphasized.

In this regard, the sides had a thorough exchange of views on the implementation of the agreements reached at the highest level, noting the significant potential for further enhancing economic cooperation between the two countries. In this context, they touched upon promising Kazakh-Hungarian investment projects, which cover such sectors as energy, logistics, IT, agriculture, livestock, poultry and beekeeping, emphasizing their mutually beneficial nature. Particularly, the parties emphasized the importance of the activities of the Intergovernmental Kazakhstan-Hungarian Commission on Economic Cooperation in the intensification of partnership between the two countries next meeting, which is scheduled in Astana this year.

In addition, the Ambassador informed the high-ranking Hungarian diplomat about the speech of the Head of State at the enlarged meeting of the Government of Kazakhstan on January 28, 2025, which outlined the strategy to improve the investment and business climate of Kazakhstan and create the most favorable conditions for foreign investment.

Upon the results of the meeting, the parties agreed to maintain a high level of contacts between the two countries in order to strengthen the partnership between Astana and Budapest.

For reference: according to the Committee on State Revenues of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan, trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Hungary for January-November 2024 amounted to 180.5 million dollars.  For 2023, the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to 187.6 million dollars.