● The work of the joint committee includes the convening of the Egyptian-Hungarian Business Council with the participation of investors and the private sector from both countries to discuss joint investment and cooperation opportunities.
Today, the joint Egyptian-Hungarian Committee for Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation began at the expert-level in Budapest, Hungary, headed by the Ministry of International Cooperation from the Egyptian side and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade from the Hungarian side, where areas of common interest will be discussed within the framework of Egypt's commitment to strengthen bilateral relations with Hungary across all areas, especially economic, scientific and technical cooperation.
Expert committee meetings are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, while the ministerial committee, chaired by H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, and H.E. Dr. Peter Szijjarto, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, will hold a number of bilateral meetings with senior Hungarian officials on Thursday. The Minister of International Cooperation will also hold a number of bilateral meetings with senior officials of the State of Hungary to discuss efforts to strengthen joint relations, discuss development priorities for the two countries, and joint projects between the two countries.
In light of the development of relations between the private sector of the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Republic of Hungary, the agenda of the committee in its fourth session includes holding the Egyptian-Hungarian Business Forum in the presence of a number of Egyptian and Hungarian businessmen, during which ways to increase economic cooperation between the two countries will be discussed through the role the private sector, discussing areas of common interest, and presenting investment opportunities in the two countries, especially in the agricultural industry, food industry, medical care, pharmaceutical industries, water, renewable energy, tourism, communications, information technology, and others.
It is worth mentioning that the Ministry of International Cooperation, within its mandate, works on developing and strengthening economic relations between the Arab Republic of Egypt and multilateral and bilateral development partners, in light of which the Ministry undertakes the preparation of joint committees with countries. This is one of the effective mechanisms to open the prospects of cooperation between Egypt and other countries in various fields.
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.
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.