● H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation: The joint Egyptian-Hungarian Business Forum is a mechanism to meet the two countries' aspirations to open the prospects of the partnership between the private sector.
● The Joint Committee meeting and the current visit of the Hungarian Prime Minister reflect the depth and resilience of relations between the two countries.
● Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Relations with the Arab Republic of Egypt are strong and exceptional, and we look forward to further partnerships at the government and private levels.
● The Forum included bilateral meetings between private sector companies and promotional presentations of investment opportunities and concluded with a Memorandum of Understanding between the General Authority of the Suez Canal Economic Zone and the Hungarian Export Promotion Agency.
H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade H.E. Péter Szijjártó, chaired the closing session of the joint Egyptian-Hungarian Business Forum, which was held yesterday, Tuesday, with the participation of Márton Nagy, Minister of Economic Development, as part of the activities of the high-level visit to the country. Earlier in the day, the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met with H.E. the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, and the joint declaration on the strategic partnership between the two countries was signed, which represents a framework for increasing the level of relations between the two friendly countries.
The business forum saw high-level participation from the public and private sectors of Hungary, including Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, together with representatives of the Hungarian Export Promotion Agency (HEPA), and representatives of many companies working in areas of common interest such as water, renewable energy, transport, oil and gas, biotechnology, health, information technology, automotive, medical devices, agricultural machinery and food industries.
Representatives of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce, the Association of Egyptian-African Businessmen (EABA), the Arab Manufacturing Authority, the General Authority of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone), the Egyptian Businessmen's Association (EBA), the General Authority for Investment (GAFI) and many companies in priority areas also participated from the Egyptian side. During the forum, several bilateral meetings were held between companies from both sides as well as promotional presentations of investment opportunities available in various fields.
In her opening remarks, Al-Mashat welcomed the Hungarian delegation visiting Egypt at this time to complete the course of the good and historical relations between the two countries, which recently culminated in the holding of the fourth session of the Egyptian-Hungarian Joint Committee for the first time in 4 years at the beginning of February. This served as a prelude to the high-level visit of the Hungarian Prime Minister and his delegation to the Arab Republic of Egypt at this time, noting that the joint declaration signed today to bring the level of relations between the two countries to the level of strategic partnership opens a wide field for further joint work towards expanding the range of relations and enhancing joint development efforts.
She also thanked the Hungarian Foreign Minister for his warm welcome and coordination for the fourth session of the Joint Committee on Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation between the two countries to be held in Hungary in early February.
The Minister of International Cooperation explained that the Egyptian-Hungarian Business Forum is an important mechanism for strengthening the relations between the private sector of the two friendly countries, and discussing all areas of joint cooperation that reflect the priorities and interests of the two governments, stressing the need for partnerships between the private sector of the two countries to be as high as the aspirations of leaders to raise the level of common relations.
Al-Mashat stressed that the involvement of the private sector and increasing its role in development efforts is a top priority for the Egyptian government, and for this reason, it has taken many steps to create an investment environment and support the presence of the private sector in many areas. She explained that the messages sent by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and the Prime Minister of Hungary reflect the strength and desire of the two countries to push relations forward towards more areas of joint work.
In his speech, the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade emphasized the importance and distinction of the joint Egyptian-Hungarian relations, and the determination of Hungary to push towards more partnerships at the governmental level as well as the private sector, thanking the Arab Republic of Egypt for the fruitful cooperation in many areas, including stopping illegal immigration, expressing his wishes that the talks between the private sector of the two countries on more development partnerships will bear fruit.
At the end of the events, the two ministers witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding for joint cooperation between the General Authority of the Suez Canal Economic Zone and the Hungarian Export Promotion Agency.
It is worth mentioning that the fourth session of the Joint Egyptian-Hungarian Committee for Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation, was held in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, in early February, for the first time in 4 years, chaired by H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation on the Egyptian side, and Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade on the Hungarian side, with the participation of representatives of more than 20 national authorities, and dozens of private sector companies and investors from both sides. In these activities, a memorandum of understanding was signed in the field of exchange of experiences in the field of international cooperation and development finance between the Ministry of International Cooperation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, in addition to a memorandum of understanding in the field of social affairs aimed at promoting social harmony and coordination in the various fields of work.
Egypt and Hungary have long-standing relations. Egypt is the first Arab country to establish diplomatic relations with Hungary, and the exchange of diplomatic relations began in 1928. The Egyptian embassy in Budapest was opened in 1957, and following Hungary's accession to the European Union in 2004, the countries signed the New Economic Cooperation Agreement in 2007, under which three sessions of the Joint Egyptian-Hungarian Committee for Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation were held, the first in November 2008 in Cairo, the second in June 2015 in Budapest, and the third in Cairo in 2018.
Within its mandate, the Ministry of International Cooperation oversees 68 committees between the Arab Republic of Egypt and countries from different continents of the world, including 8 Asian committees, 30 European committees, 14 committees with Arab countries, and 9 African committees, along with seven committees with Latin American countries.