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  • Thursday, 02 February 2023

Minister of International Cooperation H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat Hold Talks With Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade H.E. Péter Szijjártó Within the Activities of the Joint Committee

● The Minister of International Cooperation affirms the Government of Egypt’s commitment to enhance joint cooperation with countries and to expand areas of cooperation. 

● We look forward to opening horizons of joint cooperation with Hungary, localizing industry and stimulating partnerships between the private sectors of the two countries in order to meet the priorities of the Government of Egypt.

● Hungarian Foreign & Trade Minister: “We are pleased with the convening of the new session of the joint committee with the participation of more than 80 Hungarian companies to enhance cooperation with their Egyptian counterparts.”

● They discussed an increase in scholarships for Egyptian students and areas of cooperation in the field of energy. 

● The heads of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) and Suez Canal Economic Zone also discussed incentives and investment opportunities in Egypt.

Within the framework of the activities of the joint Egyptian-Hungarian Committee for Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation, held in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, the Minister of International Cooperation H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat held extensive discussions with the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade H.E. Péter Szijjártó on efforts  to strengthen joint Egyptian-Hungarian relations, and open horizons on all economic, commercial and investment levels; utilizing the positive relations between both countries. 

This included the participation of the Ambassador of Egypt in Hungary H.E. Mohamed Ibrahim Abdelkhalek El Shinawy; the Chairman of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) H.E. Hossam Heiba; Chairman of the Suez Canal Economic Zone, H.E. Waleid Gamal El Din; and Head of the Egyptian Commercial Service, H.E. Yehia ElWathik; and Egypt’s Ministry of International Cooperation team. 

From the Hungarian side, the session included the Chairman of the Hungarian-Egyptian  Friendship Group, Dr. Imre Vejkey; Chairman of the Hungarian-Egyptian Business Council, Dr. Riad Naboulsi; Ambassador of Hungary in Egypt H.E. András Kovács, and other officials from the Hungarian Government and the private sector.

During her meeting with the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Al-Mashat emphasized the commitment of the Egyptian state under the leadership of the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, H.E. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, to strengthen the framework of common relations with friendly and brotherly countries, and expand the areas of cooperation reflecting the efforts and development path between the countries. H.E. noted that overcoming the challenges facing development efforts at the global level will not come without strengthening joint cooperation and creating constructive partnerships that strengthen the path of countries towards achieving sustainable development.

The Minister of International Cooperation applauded the Egyptian-Hungarian relations that began in the beginning of the twentieth century, and varied in many areas of cooperation, pointing to the opportunities available to strengthen this cooperation and diversify it in various areas under the efforts made by the Government of Egypt to achieve comprehensive and sustainable development and its efforts towards localizing industry, encouraging investments, and stimulating the participation of the private sector in development.

The Minister of International Cooperation pointed out that the fourth session of the joint committee's work is being held within the framework of the Government of Egypt’s commitment to strengthen relations with various partners, including Hungary, along with strengthening the joint relations between the private sector of the two countries and strengthening economic ties through joint investments in priority areas. This is evident through the holding of the Egyptian-Hungarian Business Forum which includes investors and officials from various fields from the two countries to discuss joint cooperation in the fields of industry, agriculture, food industries, health care, pharmaceutical industries, water, renewable energy, telecommunications, information technology, materials processing, construction and other fields.

The Minister of International Cooperation shared that the fourth session of the Joint Committee for Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation would result in cooperation protocols and memorandums of understanding (MoUs) that contribute to expanding the scope of joint cooperation between the two countries, and deepening cooperation between the private sectors of the two countries in light of the efforts made by the Government of Egypt to stimulate and open horizons of opportunities for the private sector to participate in development efforts.

For his part, the Hungarian Foreign and Trade Minister stressed the importance of bilateral relations between Hungary and Egypt and enhanced relations between both countries that took place over the past years and was represented in many aspects of cooperation, especially the agreement to supply about 1,300 train cars for the Egyptian railways, noting, "We have a lot to do in order to deepen cooperation." 

With Egypt and the North African region, today the Egyptian-Hungarian joint committee will convene to advance bilateral relations with Egypt towards further progress.

Moreover, the Hungarian Foreign and Trade Minister stressed that the Joint Committee includes more than 80 Hungarian companies along with the government delegation, which will be opportunities to discuss cooperation frameworks between the two sides and open prospects for constructive partnerships between the private sector of the two countries, noting that Hungary considers Egypt a strategic partner in light of the consensus in common goals  and economic cooperation between the two countries, especially in the sector of agriculture, transport, scholarships and tourism.

During the meeting, the two ministers agreed on the importance of increasing scholarships for Egyptian students available from the Hungarian side. They also discussed areas of cooperation in the field of energy and natural gas.

During the meeting, Hossam Heiba, President of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI), reviewed the measures taken by the state to stimulate investments and increase the participation of the private sector and the opportunities available for joint cooperation between investors from the two countries. Chairman for the General Authority of Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE), also reviewed opportunities available for investment in the region and incentives provided by the region to encourage investments in a number of sectors.

Over the course of Tuesday and Wednesday, the activities of the Egyptian-Hungarian joint committee were held at the expert level, headed by the Ministry of International Cooperation, the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and more than 20 national bodies.

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.