Hungarian Prime Minister Mr. Orbán Viktor has led a delegation containing 27 businessmen to pay an official visit in Tashkent, Uzbekistan where they – together with their 58 Uzbek partners – have established a Hungarian-Uzbek Business Council. The Hungarian Prime Minister has also signed strategic partnership agreement between the two parties with H.E. Mr. Savkat Mirzijojev, President of Uzbekistan. Mr. Orban was accompanied by Szijjártó Péter, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Nagy István, Minister of Agriculture.
The Uzbek and Hungarian governments have signed nine agreements in Tashkent, paving the way for Hungarian companies to upgrade strategic sectors in Uzbekistan.
Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the Business Council, Mr. Szijjártó said that the work invested in the development of Hungarian-Uzbek relations has now paid off, as trade between Hungary and Uzbekistan has increased by 38% in a single year, thus exceeding $115 million. The minister said this had never happened before. Speaking about the way behind us, the Minister noted that Hungary opened an Embassy in the Uzbek capital four years ago and has provided 30 scholarships for Uzbekistan, which has been increased to 100 recently due to the large number of applicants. Uzbekistan was the first country to assist Hungary during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, sending 650,000 masks. Minister Szijjártó added that Hungary is expected to pay a major role in boosting Uzbek nuclear energy production. Uzbekistan, the world’s 7th largest uranium producer, is building a new nuclear power plant to be completed by the end of the decade and the Hungarian patent-registered Heller-Rotary system is to be used to develop a cooling system for it. Four Hungarian investments will soon be made in agricultural and food production field worth $150 million, namely in the field of vegetable oils, animal food production and cattle farming. In his speech Szijjártó Péter praised Uzbekistan’s fight against terrorism and extremism. In this regard, he stated that Hungary is prepared to provide Uzbekistan with technological support for border protection.
During the visit of the Hungarian delegation, the Uzbek-Hungarian Potato Research Centre was inaugurated in Tashkent in the presence of Mr. Nagy István. At the inauguration ceremony, the Minister stressed that the essence of the agreement is for the Hungarian and Uzbek experts to jointly assess the possibilities for the cultivation and research of local potatoes, to find and pin the needs and opportunities, and to develop detailed projects for the further development of the sector.
